REDWOOD CITY, Calif., May 7, 2012/PRNewswire/ -- An executive management team made up of early biotech pioneers who helped build America’s biotherapeutics industry today announced the creation of Coherus BioSciences, dedicated to providing patients around the world with greater access to high-quality biosimilar therapies.
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The new company was launched concurrently with the announcement of a strategic partnership with Daiichi Sankyo, Co. Ltd to develop and commercialize biosimilar forms of two therapies in several Asian countries. This is the first of several strategic partnerships that will be announced in the coming weeks.
“With Coherus, we’ve reconstructed the entire business model of making biotherapeutics, reinventing everything from development to commercialization,” said Denny Lanfear, the Chief Executive Officer of Coherus and a 13-year veteran of Amgen. “The Coherus model is about collaboration and efficiency with production processes and clinical programs that are readily portable across global markets. That’s what is needed to deliver real solutions to 21st century healthcare challenges.”
The Coherus business model leverages the world-class expertise of the leadership team in creating biologics therapies through multi-functional partnerships built on shared strategic interest. Coherus’ partners include a cutting-edge platform company providing key technologies, a global Clinical Research Organization to perform clinical trials and a leading Contract Manufacturing Organization.
As a result of the leadership team’s deep product development experience and the expertise of partners, Coherus begins with a pipeline of five oncology and inflammatory disease therapeutics.
“More than twenty years ago we developed life changing therapeutics for patients based on recombinant DNA technology,” said Coherus Co-Founder Stuart E. Builder, Ph.D., who joined Genentech in 1981 and led a group responsible for downstream processing of more than a dozen different recombinant proteins. “Today we want to increase access to biotherapeutics for patients around the world and thus benefit their lives.”
Mr. Lanfear was a founding member of Amgen’s Process Development Department which became one of the preeminent such organizations in biopharma and was a key strategic advantage for Amgen. Other members of Coherus’ leadership team are veterans of Immunex, Merck and Roche as well as other leading biotechnology companies.
A confluence of forces led to the creation of Coherus. In the pharmaceutical world, patents are expiring, drug costs have soared and payers around the world are seeking substantial savings. The technology sector and other industries offer business models to reduce costs, share risks and introduce products globally. Recognizing the need for a new model, Coherus began in 2010 by examining every link in the value chain to find ways to improve the business of developing and delivering biotherapeutics.
About Coherus BioSciences
Contact: Maureen Lopez
Phone Number 1-800-794-5434
SOURCE Coherus BioSciences
