New biosimilars facility opens in Iceland

Alvotech, an independent sister company of privately-held US generics firm Alvogen, has announced the opening of a new state-of-the-art facility, dedicated to the development and manufacturing of biosimilar monoclonal antibodies (MAbs). The opening of this industry leading biologics manufacturing plant marks a significant milestone for both Alvogen and Alvotech.

In 2013, Alvotech broke ground on a new 11,800sqm development and manufacturing facility a new in the science park of the University of Iceland in Reykjavik, as part of a $250 million investment in the development and manufacturing of a portfolio of biosimilar monoclonal antibodies.

Through the Alvotech-Alvogen alliance, Alvogen directly benefits from the growth of Alvotech due the increased supply of products coming to market.  Alvotech currently runs five offices in Iceland, Germany, Switzerland and Malta, which in turn helps Alvogen to maximize its distribution of the products.  Alvogen is already advanced in the distribution of biosimilars through its relationship with Hospira/Pfizer and it currently distributes products in 35 countries with a target revenue generation of $3 billion by 2020.

Alvotech says it has worked with the US Food and Drug Administration and the European Medicines Agency to design and build a facility complying with the highest quality standards. Iceland offers a favorable operating environment with a strong regulatory system and a convenient geographical location. Furthermore the new facility will significantly increase Alvotech’s production capacity enabling the Group to produce higher yields at lower costs, the company says.