Because of Hospira Merger, Pfizer Sells Off 4 Drugs to Alvogen
August 26, 2015
By Mark Terry, BioSpace.com Breaking News Staff
Pine Brook, N.J.-based Alvogen announced today that it acquired four drug products from Pfizer Inc. .
The compounds bought are three injectable drugs and one inhaled product. Clindamycin injection and Acetylcysteine inhalation solution are on-market products. Fresenius will continue to market acetylcysteine with Alvogen receiving profit-sharing payments.
The other two products, Voriconazole injection and Melphalan injection, are pending Abbreviated New Drug Applications (ANDA). They are both for the generic market and are expected to launch as early as 2016.
“This acquisition supports our strategy to gain exposure to the high growth, injectable segment in the U.S. market,” said Robert Wessman, chairman and chief executive officer of Alvogen in a statement. “These products will complement as well as significantly strengthen our existing portfolio, further enhancing our customer offering. We will be able to leverage our current sales and marketing network to increase market share in the U.S. Moreover, the important strategic development takes Alvogen closer towards its stated ambition to become one of the leading global players.”
Alvogen focuses on generic drugs and the new biosimilars market. It operates in 34 countries with regional hubs in North America, Romania and Taiwan. The company markets 350 products worldwide with over 200 strategic development projects in the pipeline.
The company also has a sister company, Alvotech, which focuses on developing biosimilar monoclonal antibodies for key biologic molecules. It also acts as a contract manufacturer through its subsidiary, Norwich Pharma Services.
On June 8 the company announced it had launched the first generic version of Velcade (bortezomib), a cancer drug, in Bulgaria. The generic version will be named Vortemyel, and after Bulgaria, is expected to be marketed to other Central and Eastern European markets. It is used to treat multiple myeloma and mantle cell lymphoma. Velcade is manufactured by Millennium Pharmaceuticals/Janssen Cilag.
Part of the reason Pfizer unloaded these assets is related to regulatory requirements concerning its acquisition of Hospira, Inc. The generic acetylcysteine inhalation solution, which is used to treat respiratory disorders, if kept by Pfizer, would cut the number of generic suppliers in the U.S. from three to two. A complaint by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC), noted that the three companies were Fresenius Kabi AG, which is partnered with Gland Pharma Ltd. and Pfizer, Hospira, and American Regent, Inc. The Fresenius/Gland/Pfizer arrangement holds 69 percent of the market and Hospira controls about 22 percent.
The clindamycin phosphate injection, which is an antibiotic for lung, skin, blood, bone, joint and gynecological infections, is marketed under several branded and generic labels that compete against each other. After the Pfizer-Hospira merger, the suppliers would drop from four to three.
The background for voriconazole injection, is similar. Pfizer sells the branded version, Vfend. There is currently only one generic version on the market. Hospira’s product is expected to be approved by the FDA in May 2016. If so, it would cut one of the few competitors out of the picture because of the acquisition.
Hospira’s melphalan hydrochloride injection is a chemotherapy drug. Both Pfizer and Hospira are working to develop generic versions. Both a branded and generic version are already marketed in the U.S.
As reported by StreetInsider, “As the proposed buyer, Alvogen has the necessary resources, financial and technical capabilities, and experience marketing generic pharmaceutical products that will enable it to successfully replace the competition that otherwise would have been lost through the proposed acquisition.”