Catalent Biologics, Valerius Biopharma to collaborate on manufacturing specialty biosimilars

Catalent Pharma Solutions and Valerius Biopharma AG jointly announced Monday they are collaborating to develop and manufacture Valerius’ biosimilar products.

Catalent is a Somerset-based provider of delivery technologies and development solutions for the health industry, and Valerius Biopharma is a Swiss biopharmaceutical company focused on treatment options for orphan and non-orphan biologics.

Under terms of the agreement, Catalent will provide cell line development and support manufacturing activities from Phase I through commercial stages at its manufacturing facility in Madison, Wisconsin. The project is utilizing Catalent’s proprietary GPEx technology, which creates stable production cell lines.

“Our business mission is to make the treatment of severe, life-threatening and rare diseases more affordable for patients worldwide by developing biosimilars that meet the highest regulatory standards,” said Andreas Herrmann, CEO of Valerius. “We selected Catalent as our development and manufacturing partner because of their technical knowledge and expertise in the cGMP manufacture of biosimilars, and proven track record in bringing innovative treatments to market.”

Financial terms of the collaboration were not disclosed.

“We are pleased to partner with Valerius on their biologic-based therapeutics for many important indications. We look forward to supporting them in their goal of producing affordable biosimilars that will provide more equal access to medicinal products,” said Mike Riley, vice president and general manager of drug substance and bioanalytical services, Catalent Biologics.