Even as patents on huge blockbuster drugs are still expiring, the smart generics companies have been preparing for some time for a future in which there are fewer and fewer syntehsized molecules to copy and instead the race switches to copying biotech products. This is the trend behind yesterday’s announcement by Teva and Lonza that they are forming a partnership to co-develop biosimilars which will “compete on eight of the top-ten biological medicines coming off patent over the next decade, which between them are currently generating annual sales $30bn”.

With this new partnership, Teva is well on its way to retaining and expanding its position well into the next decade as the worlds largest generics company and comes one step closer to becoming the $20 billion a year pharma/biotech/generic hybrid that Teva CEO, Shlomo Yanai, envisioned last year. The partnership with Lonza is the latest major announcement from Teva in this area, following last year’s acquisition of CoGenesys Inc. for $400 million, the $3.4 billion acquisitions of Sicor in 2004, the absorbtion of the Israeli research team of Serono in 2006 and the $7.46 billion acquisition of Barr Pharmaceuticals in 2008.

And Lonza, which already has significant experience in biotech products through its involvement in custom manufacturing biologically active products for the life sciences industry, has now found a strong partner that can take its sales & distribution to the next level.

Other companies involved in biogenerics include :

* Apotex, Inc.
* Biogenerix Ag (Ratiopharm group)
* Biocon Ltd
* BioPartners GmbH
* Cangene Corporation
* GeneMedix PLC (Reliance Life Sciences)
* Microbix Biosystems, Inc.
* Momenta Pharmaceuticals Inc
* Phage Biotechnology Corp
* Sandoz
* STADA Arzneimittel AG
* Watson Pharmaceuticals, Inc.