Gedeon Richter Becomes Strategic Investor of Formycon
Hungary-headquartered specialty pharmaceutical company Gedeon Richter becomes a strategic investor of German biosimilars company Formycon via cash capital increase of 9.08% of Formycon’s share capital, which corresponds to €82.84 million.
The companies said in a press release that they intend to combine their complementary strengths for the development of biologic therapies, with Formycon's clear focus as a leading and independent developer of biosimilars and Gedeon Richter's reach as a large multinational company with core competencies in research and manufacturing.
The total inflow of funds, Formycon said, will be used primarily for the further development of its existing biosimilar pipeline, especially FYB206, FYB208 and FYB209. In addition, the start of FYB210, a new biosimilar candidate, is planned for second half of this year.
“Robust supply and cost-competitive manufacturing are becoming increasingly important as a key component of the biosimilar value chain. Over the past few years, we have established a very trustful and successful operational cooperation with Gedeon Richter by utilizing their state-of-the-art manufacturing capabilities and I am very happy that we can enrich this partnership now even further. This transaction has the potential to generate strong momentum as it enables both parties to jointly leverage strategic long-term opportunities,” commented Formycon’s CEO, Stefan Glombitza.
Enno Spillner, CFO of Formycon, added: “From a financing perspective the cash funding secures the undamped simultaneous development of our competitive biosimilar candidates while adding a renowned collaboration partner as anchor investor who is clearly welcomed by our supervisory board and management board.”
“The capital increase announced today serves to reinforce our strategic partnership with Formycon, with the aim of broadening patient access to biological therapies globally. Joining forces in this way will provide scale benefits and new business opportunities for both parties, while ensuring mission critical knowledge and experience transfer in a fast-evolving industry,” said Gábor Orbán, CEO of Gedeon Richter.
