NEW YORK — Baxter and Momenta have agreed to partner to develop and market biosimilar  drugs to treat cancer, autoimmune disorders and other chronic conditions.

Baxter — which makes biosurgery products and drugs for a number of specialty areas, including hemophilia, kidney disease, immune disorders, and vaccines — Baxter will leverage its expertise in clinical development and biologic manufacturing, sterile injectables and global commercialization, while Momenta will bring expertise in high-resolution analytics, characterization, and product and process development.

"As biologics have become an increasingly important part of patient care, the collaboration with Momenta allows us to tap both companies' expertise to expand access to these important therapies," said Ludwig Hantson, president of Baxter's bioscience business. "The collaboration complements [our] early-stage pipeline and allows the company to expand its leadership in biologics at a time when the global regulatory pathway for approval is becoming more clear."

Baxter will pay Momenta $33 million upfront under the agreement for its collaboration on up to six follow-on biologic compounds.

The companies expect the deal to close in the first quarter.