Why Coherus BioSciences, Inc. Is Dropping Today
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What happened
Shares of Coherus BioSciences (NASDAQ: CHRS), a clinical-stage biotech focused on biosimilar drugs, are down by 16% as of 2:22 p.m. EST on Monday after the company received disappointing news from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
So what
Coherus stated that the Patent Trial and Appeal Board of the USPTO has denied its petition for inter partes review on one ofAbbVie's (NYSE: ABBV) key formulation patents for its megablockbuster drug Humira (adalimumab). Coherus currently has a biosimilarversion of Humira in phase 3 development and had previously announced its intentions to submit the drug for regulatory review in the U.S. before the end of the first quarter of 2017.
Denny Lanfear, Coherus' CEO, had this to say about the USPTO's ruling:
He later went on to say that the company iscommitted to launching its Humira biosimilar drug candidate should it eventually win regulatory approval.
Shares of AbbVie are up more than 6% on the news.
Now what
Coherus' investors knew all along that is was going to be an uphill battle to bring a biosimilarversion of Humira to market. After all, Humira currently accounts for more than 60% of AbbVie's total revenue and management had previously committed to growing sales of the drug beyond $18 billion by 2020. With the stakes so high, you can bet that AbbVie's management team will do everything in its power to keep biosimilar versions of the drug from stealing market share.
Coherus hasn't yet commented on how this ruling might adjust its development timeline, but it did announce that it will be holding a specialconferencecall with investors later today to provide more details. Shareholders of both Coherus and AbbVie will want to listen in for clues as to what is next for this product candidate.
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Brian Feroldi has no position in any stocks mentioned.Like this article? Follow him onTwitter where he goes by the handle@Longtermmindsetor connect with him on LinkedIn to see more articles like this.
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