Public-private partnerships have become very relevant again in light of the Covid-19 pandemic. Now, Brazil’s seen a new agreement in the area of biosimilar development. The protagonists on this occasion are the Swiss generics maker Sandoz and Brazil’s Instituto Butantan.
Last year, the Swiss drugmaker Novartis’s generics division Sandoz closed a transfer of technology agreement with the Brazilian foundation Fiocruz. Now it’s following up on that with another move in the same direction, reaching an understanding with Instituto Butantan, a biologic research centre located in Butantã, in the west of São Paulo.
The deal involves two of its biosimilars, adalimumab and etanercept, both indicated for the treatment of autoimmune and inflammatory diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis. Sandoz biosimilars are marketed in Brazil because Abbvie’s Humira and Pfizer’s Enbrel have lost their patent exclusivity.
Brazil Sandoz is led by the Argentine Marcelo Belapolsky who was one of the signatories of the agreement along with Dimas Covas, the president of Instituto Butantan. The agreement, entitled «Alliances for Productive Development» –PDP, for its acronym in Portuguese, is valid for a decade and will see the Brazilian state undertake to acquire part of the public market for the products from Sandoz and Butantan. See gallery
La operación de Sandoz Brasil está liderada por el argentino Marcelo Belapolsky quien fue uno de los firmantes del acuerdo junto con Dimas Covas, el presidente del Instituto Butantan. El convenio denominado «Alianzas para el Desarrollo Productivo» –PDP, por sus siglas en portugués- tiene una vigencia de una década e implica que el estado brasileño se comprometa a adquirirle una parte del mercado público de estos productos a Sandoz -Novartis- y al Instituto Butantan. Ver galería
Pharmabiz has learned that, initially, the biosimilars will continue to be imported from Austria until Butantan receives all of the technology. It’s envisaged that the institute will begin to manufacture them in Brazil After the tenth year of the arrangement.
