On March 18, 2026, Sandoz announced a new license, development, and commercialization partnership agreement with Samsung Bioepis Co., Ltd. Under this agreement, the companies will collaborate on the development and commercialization of up to five biosimilar assets, with the potential for further collaboration. Sandoz will have exclusive global commercialization rights, except in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Macau, and Korea. Samsung Bioepis will be responsible for development, regulatory submissions in certain markets, and manufacturing.
As part of the agreement, Sandoz and Samsung Bioepis will first collaborate on a vedolizumab biosimilar to Takeda’s ENTYVIO. In the United States, ENTYVIO is indicated for the treatment of moderately to severely active ulcerative colitis and moderately to severely active Crohn’s disease in certain adults. In the European Union, ENTYVIO is also indicated for the treatment of moderately to severely active chronic pouchitis in certain adults. The vedolizumab biosimilar is currently in early-stage development.
This agreement follows a 2023 collaboration between the two companies concerning PYZCHIVA (ustekinumab) and a 2025 collaboration to commercialize EPYSQLI (eculizumab) in the Middle East and Africa.
The agreement with Sandoz is not the only collaboration agreement announced by Samsung Bioepis this month. On March 15, Samsung Bioepis and Epis NexLab Co., Ltd. (both subsidiaries of the recently formed Samsung Epis Holdings) announced a research collaboration and license agreement with G2GBIO, a Korean biotech company. Under this agreement, Epis NexLab and G2GBIO will co-develop a long-acting microsphere drug delivery platform based on G2GBIO’s current technology, which includes its Innovative Long-Acting Microsphere Platform or InnoLAMP. With InnoLAMP, drug products are encapsulated in biodegradable polymers that allow for the release of uniform microspheres of the drug over extended periods, such as over a week to several months.
InnoLAMP Technology, G2GBIO (last accessed Mar. 19, 2026).
In addition to the microsphere platform, the agreement grants Samsung Bioepis a full license to G2GBIO’s long-acting semaglutide asset and an option to license another G2GBIO asset. The agreement also grants Samsung Bioepis first negotiation rights for three other novel assets, which will be determined at a later date.
This announcement follows Samsung Biologics’ statement earlier in the week that it had entered into a collaboration agreement with Eli Lilly and Company to establish a Lilly Gateway Labs site in Korea. The agreement with Lilly is expected to provide research infrastructure for up to 30 biotech companies within Samsung Biologics’ Bio Campus II. Construction is expected to be completed on the Lilly Gateway Labs facility in July 2027.