CJSC BIOCAD and KOÇAK FARMA sign a Definitive Agreement on rituximab

ST. PETERSBURG, Russian Federation - Aug. 22, 2013 - PRLog -- According to the agreement, CJSC BIOCAD will supply rituximab API to KOÇAK FARMA for five years.

BIOCAD will give its Turkish partner exclusive rights to import the API, to produce the finished dosage forms locally, as well as to distribute and sell rituximab in Turkey.

KOÇAK FARMA, in turn, will have the rights for distribution and sales of finished dosage forms of the drug in Turkey under their own brand.

BIOCAD is completing Phase III clinical trials of the drug, and preparing to obtain marketing authorization in Russia.

Successful completion of clinical trials will enable BIOCAD to launch the first Russian monoclonal antibody-based product on international pharmaceutical market.

CJSC BIOCAD’s rituximab is used in treating adult patients with B-Cell non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma .  

BIOCAD’s Rituximab is a biosimilar version of Hoffmann-La Roche’s high-priced drug MabThera® .   According to Cem KOÇAK,  Business Development Director of  KOÇAK FARMA , the Turkish oncology drugs market is almost certain to be positively affected by the new agreement with BIOCAD, and the price for this medication is expected to be much lower than that of the originator’s.

Full technology transfer for localized manufacturing of oncology MAb –based medications in Turkey is also under discussion.

Established in 1971, KOÇAK FARMA has become one of the most prominent companies of Turkish pharmaceutical sector in the past 42 years. Today KOÇAK FARMA produces over 300 different types of products, both API and finished product production. The company has almost 1200 employees.

KOÇAK FARMA has been exporting API and finished products to several countries, and does contract manufacturing of several important drugs for numerous local and international companies. Right now company is exporting oncology products and products in other therapeutic areas to many countries of European Union, former USSR, Australia and South Korea.

BIOCAD is a Russian fully integrated biopharmaceutical company focused on development and commercialization of products for the Russian, CIS and other key emerging markets across the globe. BIOCAD maintains all functions in-house, ranging from discovery to commercial scale manufacturing to sales and marketing. BIOCAD’s pipeline is focused on biosimilar and next-in-class monoclonal antibodies.

BIOCAD’s core competency and competitive advantage is its biologics expertise, including the development and manufacturing of products that utilize bacterial and mammalian based cell culture techniques. BIOCAD has developed significant in-house expertise across all functional areas, allowing it to be almost 100% self-sufficient in terms of moving a product from the lab all the way to commercialization.

 

BIOCAD is headquartered in Neudorf, a suburb of St. Petersburg, Russia, and maintains additional manufacturing and R&D facilities in the Moscow region. The Company has additional offices in several countries across the globe, including the US, Ukraine, China, India and Brazil. BIOCAD was founded in 2001 and employs approximately 700 people.