Hikma And Celltrion Healthcare Sign New Exclusive Licensing Agreement For Vegzelma For The Middle East And North Africa Region

Hikma Pharmaceuticals PLC (Hikma), the multinational pharmaceutical company, announces a new exclusive licensing agreement with Celltrion Healthcare Co., Ltd, a global biopharmaceutical company, for Vegzelma (CT-P16, bevacizumab). Under the terms of the agreement, Celltrion Healthcare will be responsible for the development, manufacturing and supply of Vegzelma and Hikma will be responsible for the commercialisation of the product in all its MENA markets, providing better access to a much needed oncology product.

Vegzelma is a biosimilar to Avastin (bevacizumab) and is a U.S. FDA and EMA approved anti-cancer monoclonal antibody treatment. The new agreement builds on Hikma’s long-standing partnership with Celltrion Healthcare and expands Hikma’s biosimilar portfolio, a key focus of its strategy. Through its existing partnership with Celltrion Healthcare, Vegzelma (CT-P16, bevacizumab) is the seventh biosimilar to be added to Hikma’s portfolio, which includes the following six products – Truxima (rituximab), Remsima (intravenous infliximab), Herzuma (trastuzumab), Remsima SC (subcutaneous infliximab), YuflymaTM (adalimumab), and CT-P43 (ustekinumab).

Commenting on the latest agreement with Celltrion Healthcare, Mazen Darwazah, Hikma’s Executive Vice Chairman and President of MENA, said: “We are very excited to be building on our long-term partnership with Celltrion Healthcare. Vegzelma is an important oncology biosimilar and this partnership will help increase patients’ access to a critical medication in the region”. He added, “The extension of our partnership with Celltrion Healthcare is highly complementary to our existing strategy of building a portfolio of differentiated products as we continue to focus on putting better health, within reach, every day.”

About Vegzelma (CT-P16, bevacizumab)
Vegzelma is an anti-cancer monoclonal antibody treatment biosimilar to Avastin (bevacizumab). Vegzelma is a recombinant humanized monoclonal antibody which binds to vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), the key driver of vasculogenesis and angiogenesis, and thereby inhibits the binding of VEGF to its receptors Flt-1 (VEGFR-1), and kinase insert domain receptor (KDR) (VEGFR-2), on the surface of endothelial cells. In the EU, Vegzelma is indicated for the treatment of patients with metastatic colorectal cancer, non-small cell lung cancer, metastatic renal cell carcinoma, ovarian cancer, advanced cervical cancer and metastatic breast cancer.