On occasion, we profile some biosimilar manufacturers about whom our readers may not be familiar. This generally refers to companies that have products that are in earlier-stage research or those who simply have not been in the news as often as their colleagues. It has been several years since a newer player has entered the US biosimilar sphere. In this post, we highlight a company with headquarters in Chicago, Meitheal Pharmaceuticals.
Established in 2017, Meitheal’s majority shareholder is the Chinese active pharmaceutical ingredient manufacturer Nanjing King-Friend (which gained a majority stake in the company in 2019). Meitheal is led by Chief Executive Officer Tom Shea, who has extensive experience in the generic marketplace.
Why you may be hearing more about this company: As we reported last summer, Meitheal’s parent company acquired the commercialization rights to Coherus’ adalimumab biosimilar Yusimry, which gained a negligible share of that biosimilar category. However, Meitheal, which is primarily a generics manufacturer (and recently introduced a generic version of the GLP-1 receptor agonist liraglutide), lists a pipeline of seven biosimilar candidates. These include insulin aspart, glargine, and lispro (in phase 1 trials); filgrastim and pegfilgrastim (in preclinical analysis); follitropin alpha (in preclinical analysis), and denosumab (in phase 1 trials). All of these investigations are being conducted through a sister company (also owned by the Chinese firm), Xentria.
In addition, Meitheal has submitted for FDA approval an application for a branded anti-infective, and is in a phase 2 trial for a branded product to treat sarcoidosis XTMAB-16. Meitheal states on its website that it will use both the acquisition and development routes to bolster its portfolio.
It is actively selling approximately 70 generic medications and Yusimry. This fits the recent pattern of biosimilar makers increasingly tilting towards established generic manufacturers. Certainly, companies interested in marketing new biosimilar versions of granulocyte colony stimulating factors and insulins—both crowded, and lower-margin categories—must be able to accept relatively low sales revenues for these products. On their website, Meitheal states its mission is to “provide access to fairly priced generic injectables and specialty biopharmaceuticals through robust manufacturing, consistent supply
