AstraZeneca, Samsung quit race to develop Rituxan copycat as rivals crowd out the market
Six years after AstraZeneca teamed up with Samsung Biologics to develop a biosimilar for Roche’s rituximab, they are throwing in the towel.
The partners have decided to stop all R&D work on the program known as SAIT101, Korea Biomedical Review reported, citing a quarterly report from Samsung. Archigen, a 50-50 joint venture set up around the program, is set to be liquidated.
AstraZeneca had wagered $70 million in cash back in 2014 to get it all started, and topped up with an extra $30 million two years later. For Samsung, Korea Biomed calculations suggest a total investment of $126 million.
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