Sandoz to acquire Cimerli business from Coherus for $170M

Sandoz has signed an agreement to acquire the biosimilar ranibizumab Cimerli (ranibizumab-eqrn) from Coherus BioSciences for an upfront cash purchase payment of $170 million. This is inclusive of a biologics license application, product inventory, ophthalmology sales and field reimbursement talent, as well as access to proprietary commercial software.

Keren Haruvi, president of Sandoz North America, said, “I am pleased that we can add another high-value product to the growing Sandoz biosimilar portfolio, further strengthening our existing ophthalmology franchise. The addition of Cimerli reinforces our commitment to biosimilars and represents a huge step towards our goal of pioneering patient access to more affordable and much-needed medicines in the U.S.”

Sandoz said it looks forward to providing even more treatment options for U.S. patients with vision impairment and loss. “The agreement to acquire the Cimerli business from Coherus allows us to build a more robust ophthalmic platform that would support future product launches.”

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Cimerli solution for injection 0.3 mg (6 mg/ml) and 0.5 mg (10 mg/ml) is an FDA-approved biosimilar to Lucentis (ranibizumab injection) that is indicated for the treatment of multiple retinal diseases including wet age-related macular degeneration, diabetic macular edema, macular edema following retinal vein occlusion, myopic choroidal neovascularization and diabetic retinopathy. Cimerli is an anti-VEGF therapy within a class of biologics that helps retinal patients maintain or gain vision. It was approved by the FDA in August 2022. Launched in October 2022, it is the first and only FDA-approved biosimilar interchangeable with Lucentis for all indications.

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