Business · Companies · 2 hrs ago
Fresenius secures access to up to 37 biosimilar candidates
German healthcare company Fresenius has agreed to develop biosimilar drugs with China’s WuXi Biologics.
The deal gives Fresenius exclusive access to as many as 37 potential candidates over the coming decade, expanding a portfolio of 29 marketed or developing molecules to as many as 66.
Biosimilars are close copies of complex medicines made from living cells, developed after the original drugs’ patents expire.
Fresenius will pay WuXi for development work and keep worldwide marketing rights, while choosing which candidates to pursue.
The partnership targets a market where original drugs worth more than €370 billion are represented, and biosimilars can help lower healthcare costs.
Research costs may weigh on profits during development, before successful products can add revenue and earnings.
Fresenius expects the first products from the partnership to be ready for market in the early 2030s, as it expands biopharma to reduce its reliance on dialysis and hospitals.
Fresenius has agreed a development partnership with China’s WuXi Biologics to access up to 37 potential biosimilar candidates.
The deal could expand Fresenius’s portfolio from 29 marketed and pipeline molecules to as many as 66.
Fresenius will retain worldwide marketing rights for future products and pay WuXi for development work.
The company said the agreement is the largest of its kind in the industry.
Fresenius expects the first products from the partnership to be marketable in the early 2030s.
- Who
- German healthcare group Fresenius and Chinese contract developer and manufacturer WuXi Biologics.
- What
- They agreed to work together to develop up to 37 potential biosimilar candidates.
- When
- Announced on Monday, November 2, 2026.
- Where
- The announcement was made in Bad Homburg, Germany. The partnership concerns worldwide marketing rights.
- Why
- Fresenius aims to strengthen its biopharma business and expand its biosimilar pipeline.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
Fresenius chief executive Michael Sen announced plans to invest the company’s increased financial capacity in partnerships and research.
Fresenius announced that it had fully acquired Spanish biosimilar specialist mAbxience.
Fresenius announced its development partnership with WuXi Biologics.
Fresenius expects the first molecules from the partnership to be marketable.
- Potential candidates
- Up to 37
- Current portfolio
- 29 marketed and pipeline molecules
- Potential portfolio
- Up to 66 molecules
- Marketing rights
- Worldwide rights retained by Fresenius
- Expected first marketable products
- Early 2030s
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What people are saying
With the agreement concluded today, we are strengthening our commitment to the biopharma business and securing development capacity in a market where speed and scale are decisive.
We decide for ourselves which and how many biosimilar candidates are developed.
The deal with WuXi Biologics is strategically very important.