Amgen in cancer biosimilars deal with Watson

A collaboration has been entered into by Amgen (Nasdaq: AMGN), the world’s largest independent biotech company, and US generic drug major Watson Pharmaceuticals (NYSE: WPI) to develop and commercialize, on a worldwide basis, several oncology antibody biosimilar versions of several biological drugs.

Under the terms of the deal, Amgen will assume primary responsibility for developing, manufacturing and initially commercializing the oncology antibody products. Watson will contribute up to $400 million in co-development costs over the course of development, including the provision of development support, and will share product development risks. The companies did not reveal which copy drugs they plan to develop, but did say they would not be biosimilars of Amgen’s branded biotech-derived agents.

In addition, Watson will contribute its expertise in the commercialization and marketing of products in highly competitive specialty and generic markets, including to help effectively manage the lifecycle of the biosimilar products. The collaboration products are expected to be sold under a joint Amgen/Watson label. Watson will initially receive royalties and sales milestones from product revenues.