Sources in the industry revealed Wednesday that Samsung Bioepis Co., a biosimilar medicine developer owned by Samsung Group, is in discussions with Biogen Inc. to acquire the American biotech company’s biosimilar business unit.
Samsung Bioepis is hoping to gain direct access to the U.S. sales market through the transaction with the Nasdaq-listed firm.
Biogen and Samsung Biologics created Samsung Bioepis in 2012 as a joint venture, and the two companies have been working together to market Samsung Bioepis’ products in the U.S.
Biogen recently announced plans to divest its biosimilar division as part of its restructuring process.
However, a Samsung Bioepis representative denied reports that the acquisition has been finalized, saying, “Nothing has been decided yet. We are currently evaluating various strategies to strengthen our biosimilar production capability on a global scale, and our focus is on expanding our R&D and sales networks.”
brk@yna.co.kr
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