Viatris Selling Biosimilars Unit to Biocon for $3 Billion
Viatris, the new US pharma created in the 2020 merger of Mylan and Pfizer’s Upjohn off-patent franchise, is selling its biosimilars portfolio to Biocon Biologics for up to $3.35 billion. Terms of the deal foresee Biocon paying $2 billion upfront, $1 billion in convertible preferred equity and $335 million in additional payments.
At the same time, Viatris said it plans to sell a number of assets that could generate up to $6 billion in pretax proceeds by the end of 2023.
Viatris has meanwhile announced plans to settle litigation related to the EpiPen auto-injector, an emergency allergy treatment, for $264 million – subject to approval of the plans by a US judge. The settlements are related to lawsuits filed against Mylan, accusing it of raising the prices of the device from $100 to $608 between 2008 and 2016.
Prior to the merger, Mylan was officially based in the Netherlands, but managed from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In 2017, the company settled with the US Department of Justice (DOJ), paying $465 million to resolve other claims relating to its EpiPen. Mylan and Pfizer previously collaborated on the EpiPen.
The 2017 litigation did not concern the price increases but rather Mylan’s classification of the device as a generic, which resulted in the company’s underpayment of rebates to the US Medicaid healthcare program. Viatris is officially based in the US state of Pennsylvania.
Author: Dede Williams, Freelance Journalist
