Bio­gen goes deep in­to biosim­i­lars, slap­ping down $700M for a ma­jor stake in Sam­sung Bioepis

Bio­gen $BI­IB was pret­ty care­ful when it al­lied with Sam­sung Bioepis back in 2011 — when George Scan­gos was CEO — tak­ing a small mi­nor­i­ty stake in the com­pa­ny as it dipped its toe in­to biosim­i­lar wa­ters.

To­day, though, Bio­gen CEO Michel Vounatsos is div­ing in deep, pick­ing up an op­tion to be­come near­ly an equal part­ner on the ven­ture.

Bio­gen has agreed to pay $700 mil­lion to boost its stake in the biosim­i­lars ven­ture to 49.9% — mark­ing one of the more sub­stan­tial plays an­a­lysts have been look­ing for.

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