Alvotech Debuted on Nasdaq – Big Molecule Watch

Alvotech, a global biotech company focused solely on the development and manufacture of biosimilar medicines announced yesterday that its ordinary shares and warrants will begin trading on Nasdaq today, June 16, under the new ticker symbols “ALVO” and “ALVOW”, respectively.  The debut on Nasdaq follows completion of the company’s business combination with Oaktree Acquisition Corp. II (“OACB”), which included a fully committed and upsized $175 million PIPE raised through top-tier investors at $10.00 per share.

The public listing is expected to be the largest debut by an Icelandic company on U.S. markets.  Ordinary shares of the company are also expected to trade on the Nasdaq First North Growth Market in Iceland commencing on June 23, 2022. Alvotech is expected to be the first dual-listed Icelandic company on both a U.S. and Icelandic stock exchange.  Robert Wessman, the Founder and Executive Chairman of Alvotech, stated that “[B]ecoming a public company is a historic milestone on Alvotech’s growth journey, and the company expects to continue strengthening its position in the biosimilar space while delivering value to our partners and patients across the globe.”

Alvotech’s current portfolio of eight products and product candidates targets multiple therapeutic areas and represents an estimated total addressable market of over $85 billion. Alvotech’s lead product, AVT02 (adalimumab), a biosimilar to HUMIRA®, has launched in Canada and Europe and is expected to launch in the United States on July 1, 2023.  For the U.S. market, Alvotech is pursuing an interchangeability designation for AVT02 (adalimumab) and has previously announced FDA acceptance of Alvotech’s BLA supporting interchangeability for the company’s high-concentration, citrate-free biosimilar candidate.  More recently, the company has announced positive topline results for AVT04 (ustekinumab), Alvotech’s proposed biosimilar to STELARA®, for both the confirmatory clinical, safety and efficacy study and a pharmacokinetic (PK) study.  To give its products global reach with local expertise, Alvotech has formed strategic commercialization partnerships with Teva Pharmaceuticals for the U.S. market; STADA Arzneimittel AG for EU; and Fuji Pharma Co., Ltd for Japan, among others.