February 28, 2017
By Alex Keown, BioSpace.com Breaking News Staff
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Momenta Pharmaceuticals , a company developing M923, a biosimilar to AbbVie ’s Humira, is expanding, taking on an additional 80,000 square feet of space in Kendall Square. The company expects to take on the new space on Jan. 1, 2018.
According to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Momenta indicated it was taking on an additional 80,000 square feet of laboratory and office space on Binney Street. The extra Binney Street space provides Momenta with a total of 263,500 square feet of laboratory and office space in Cambridge. The bulk of Momenta’s space is on Bent Street. The company maintains 105,000 square feet of office and lab space there, according to the filing.
The new space on Binney Street puts Momenta in close proximity with other Kendall Square stalwarts including Ironwood Pharmaceuticals , Ra Pharmaceuticals, Ariad Pharmaceuticals and Biogen .
The expansion follows close behind a setback for its Copaxone generic the company is developing with Sandoz. On Feb. 17, Momenta’s contract manufacturing partner Pfizer received a warning letter from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration regarding issues with one of its facilities. The Pfizer facility is a key part of the supply chain for Momenta’s Glatopa products. Momenta’s 40mg dosage of Glatopa is currently under review by the FDA. An approval of the application is dependent on the satisfactory resolution of the compliance observations at the Pfizer facility, Momenta said. As a result, the company does not expect an approval by the FDA during the first quarter of 2017. A 20mg dosage of Glatopa, a generic for Teva Pharmaceuticals ’ Copaxone for patients with relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis developed in collaboration with Sandoz, has already been approved for marketing.
In January, Momenta forged a deal with Australia-based CSL Limited to develop and market Fc multimer proteins, including Momenta’s M230. M230 is a selective immunomodulator of Fc receptors, and is projected to start in the clinic this year, BioSpace previously reported.
In September 2016, Momenta regained the global development and commercialization rights to M923 after Shire terminated the collaboration agreement. The agreement was initially struck in 2011 between Momenta and Baxalta , which Shire acquired. Under the agreement between the companies, Shire will be obligated to fund the M923 project until the window for termination has been met. In November, Momenta announced M923 met its endpoints in a Phase III trial. M923 is being developed to treat severe chronic plaque psoriasis.
M923 is not the only biosimilar Momenta is developing. Last year the company struck a co-development deal with Mylan to initiate a Phase I trial to study M834, a biosimilar to Orencia, a rheumatoid arthritis drug developed by Bristol-Myers Squibb . In 2015, worldwide sales of ORENCIA totaled $1.9 billion. Data from the Phase I trial is expected to read out later in 2017.
Momenta closed out 2016 with $353.2 million in the bank. That does not include a $51.2 million payment from Shire in January 2017 and the $50 million upfront payment from CSL that the company expects to receive in the first quarter of 2017.
Shares of Momenta are down 2 percent this morning, trading at $15.58.
