Coherus BioSciences, Inc. (“Coherus”, Nasdaq: CHRS), beginning at
9:30 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time today, is hosting a meeting with
analysts and investors to present the Company’s corporate strategy
to build a leading innovative immuno-oncology (“I-O”) franchise
funded with cash generated through net sales of its diversified
portfolio of FDA-approved therapeutics. A simultaneous webcast and
slides for the meeting are available on the Events and
Presentations page of the Coherus website.
“Executing on our strategy, by 2026 we believe that our
commercial product portfolio will generate more than $1.2 billion
in annual net sales and that our R&D productivity will position
Coherus as a new leader in immuno-oncology,” said Denny Lanfear,
CEO of Coherus. “We believe having proprietary rights to a
well-developed and commercialized PD-1 is required for long-term
success in immuno-oncology, especially for companies developing
PD-1 combinations who wish to earn label claims and commercialize
them. Our foundational I-O asset, toripalimab, is an efficacious
and differentiated PD-1 inhibitor developing a consistently strong
clinical profile in studies across multiple tumor types. If
approved, toripalimab will provide our commercial point of entry
into the rapidly growing checkpoint inhibitor and PD-1 combination
market. For the first time, today we are providing details of our
PD-1 combination programs, including our clinical-stage anti-TIGIT
antibody candidate and our internal preclinical programs targeting
immune-suppressive mechanisms in the tumor microenvironment.”
Lanfear added, “We believe that we will successfully execute on
both our near-term product launches and our innovative
immuno-oncology pipeline development to position Coherus for
long-term growth and significant shareholder value creation over
our planning period.”
Immuno-Oncology R&D Update: Positioned for Growth
Across a Broad Portfolio
At the meeting, Theresa LaVallee, PhD, Chief Development
Officer, is providing an update on the Company’s clinical stage
immuno-oncology R&D programs. Toripalimab was granted
Breakthrough Therapy designation in combination with chemotherapy
for the first-line treatment of recurrent or metastatic NPC in 2021
as well as in monotherapy in the second or third-line treatment of
recurrent or metastatic NPC, and a Biologics License Application
(“BLA”) for these indications is currently under priority review by
the United States Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) with a
Prescription Drug User Fee Act target action date of April 30,
2022. Coherus and partner Junshi Biosciences are working closely
with the FDA to complete the review process including the
scheduling of any required inspections in China. Dr. LaVallee is
also presenting details about the potential to pursue additional
indications for toripalimab, including through possible expansion
of several ongoing pivotal studies into multi-regional clinical
trials with enrollment of patients in the United States.
Dr. LaVallee and Dr. Sanjay Khare, Senior Vice President of
Immuno-oncology R&D, are presenting, for the first time, an
overview of Coherus’ earlier stage immuno-oncology R&D
programs:
- CHS-006 (anti-TIGIT antibody) is being
evaluated in an ongoing clinical trial. In 2023, Coherus expects to
receive clinical data informing dose-selection and is planning to
enroll new patient cohorts in the United States to evaluate CHS-006
+ toripalimab for treatment of several solid tumor indications that
may include non-small cell lung cancer, small cell lung cancer,
esophageal cancer, and hepatocellular carcinoma.
- Coherus is pursuing two early-stage
development candidates designed to improve anti-PD-1 clinical
benefit by transforming an unfavorable tumor microenvironment
(“TME”) to a more favorable TME. Coherus expects to file
investigational new drug (“IND”) applications with the FDA in 2023
for CHS-1000, an antibody targeting ILT4, and in 2024 for CHS-3318,
an antibody targeting CCR8.
Coherus expects its immuno-oncology R&D investments will
lead to ongoing identification of promising pipeline assets and the
submission of at least one new IND application for immuno-oncology
development candidates per year beginning in 2023.
Commercial Update: Preparing to launch as many as four
new products through mid-2023
Paul Reider, Chief Commercial Officer, is presenting an overview
of the Company’s plans for up to four new product launches in the
next 15 months.
- Toripalimab launch readiness is on
track and will benefit from the high overlap in customer accounts
between UDENYCA® and toripalimab. If approved, toripalimab will be
the first and only PD-1 inhibitor registered in the United States
for the treatment of advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma.
- CIMERLITM (ranibizumab-ranq), a
Lucentis® biosimilar, is under FDA review with a target action date
of August 2, 2022. If approved, Coherus is preparing to launch
CIMERLITM in the second half of 2022 into the $8B anti VEGF market
and to drive adoption among retina specialists that the Company
believes will be receptive to using an anti-VEGF biosimilar.
- The FDA approved Coherus’ Humira®
biosimilar, YUSIMRYTM (adalimumab-aqvh), in December 2021, and
Coherus plans to launch YUSIMRYTM in the United States on or after
July 1, 2023. With projected 2022 U.S. Humira® net sales of more
than $18 billion, the Humira® market represents a uniquely large
and attractive opportunity. Coherus has made significant
investments in manufacturing capacity and expects to be a low-cost,
high-volume adalimumab manufacturer. Coherus expects this
investment to result in launch-year manufacturing capacity of
approximately 1.2 million units, or about 10% of the overall
adalimumab market, equal to the Company’s target market share.
After additional YUSIMRYTM scale-up efforts, the current
manufacturing site has the potential to supply as much as 30% of
the overall U.S. adalimumab market, three times Coherus’ target
market share.
- Coherus is planning a potential 2023
launch, assuming approval by the FDA, of its UDENYCA®
(pegfilgrastim-cbqv) on-body injector ("OBI") presentation. The
UDENYCA® OBI would enable Coherus to compete directly against
Neulasta® Onpro®, which has approximately a 50% share of the
overall pegfilgrastim market. Coherus believes the on-body segment
of the pegfilgrastim market represents a $1 billion market
opportunity and that a UDENYCA® OBI would generate significant new
growth for the UDENYCA® franchise in 2023 and beyond.
Financial Update: Economies of scale within the Coherus
business model
Chief Financial Officer, McDavid Stilwell, is presenting an
overview of the Company’s cost structure as well as a projected
range of annual net sales for 2026.
Coherus projects combined R&D and SG&A expenses in 2022
to be in the range of $415 million to $450 million,
excluding license fee and potential milestone payments to partner
Junshi Biosciences. The projected increase in combined R&D and
SG&A expenses compared to 2021 is driven primarily by costs the
Company expects to incur with the anticipated launches of two new
products, toripalimab and CIMERLITM, as well as manufacturing and
development costs for additional presentations of UDENYCA® and of
YUSIMRYTM, which Coherus is planning to launch in 2023.
Since Coherus’ commercial organization is already operating at
scale, Coherus expects additional new product launches will largely
leverage existing infrastructure, with some additional capabilities
added to support launches outside of oncology. R&D expenses are
expected to trend higher from 2024 through 2026 as Coherus
initiates new clinical trials for CHS-006, CHS-1000 and CHS-3318.
Full year 2026 operating expenses are expected to increase by only
15 to 25 percent compared to 2022 operating expenses.
Mr. Stilwell is also providing an estimate of the long-term
revenue potential of the Company’s diversified product portfolio,
assuming all four new products are approved and launched, with a
range for 2026 net sales of $1.2 billion to $2.2 billion.
About Coherus BioSciencesCoherus is a
commercial stage biopharmaceutical company building a leading
immuno-oncology franchise funded with cash generated by its
commercial biosimilar business. In 2021, Coherus in-licensed
toripalimab, an anti-PD-1 antibody, in the United
States and Canada. A biologics license application for
toripalimab for the treatment of metastatic or recurrent
nasopharyngeal carcinoma is currently under priority review by the
FDA, with a target action date of April 2022. Toripalimab is
also being evaluated in pivotal clinical trials for the treatment
of cancers of the lung, breast, liver, skin, kidney, stomach,
esophagus, and bladder.
Coherus markets UDENYCA® (pegfilgrastim-cbqv), a biosimilar of
Neulasta® in the United States, and expects to launch the
FDA-approved Humira® biosimilar YUSIMRY™ (adalimumab-aqvh)
in the United States in 2023. The FDA is currently
reviewing the biologics license application for CHS-201, a
biosimilar of Lucentis® (ranibizumab), with a target action date
of August 2022. Coherus is also developing CHS-305, a
biosimilar of Avastin® (bevacizumab).
Forward-Looking StatementsExcept for the
historical information contained herein, the matters set forth in
this press release are forward-looking statements within the
meaning of the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including, but not limited to,
statements regarding Coherus’ ability to build its immuno-oncology
franchise to achieve a leading market position; Coherus’ ability to
generate cash; Coherus’ investment plans; Coherus’ expectations for
the launch date of YUSIMRY™ and other products; projections for
manufacturing capacity, future revenues, R&D and other
operating expenses, market sizes and market opportunities;
expectations about the approval and launch of toripalimab;
development plans for Coherus’ early-stage product candidates;
expectations regarding inspections in China; expectations about the
efficacy of toripalimab; and expectations for multiple near-term
product launches.
Such forward-looking statements involve substantial risks and
uncertainties that could cause Coherus’ actual results, performance
or achievements to differ significantly from any future results,
performance or achievements expressed or implied by the
forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include,
among others, the risks and uncertainties inherent in the clinical
drug development process; risks relating to the COVID-19 pandemic;
risks related to our existing and potential collaboration partners;
risks of the drug development position of Coherus’ competitors; the
risks and uncertainties of the regulatory approval process,
including the speed of regulatory review, international aspects of
Coherus’ business and the timing of Coherus’ regulatory filings;
the risk of FDA review issues; the risk of Coherus’ execution of
its change in strategy from a focus on biosimilars to a strategy
using cash from its portfolio to fund an immuno-oncology franchise;
the risk that Coherus is unable to complete commercial transactions
and other matters that could affect the availability or commercial
potential of Coherus’ drug candidates; and the risks and
uncertainties of possible litigation. All forward-looking
statements contained in this press release speak only as of the
date of this press release. Coherus undertakes no obligation to
update or revise any forward-looking statements. For a further
description of the significant risks and uncertainties that could
cause actual results to differ from those expressed in these
forward-looking statements, as well as risks relating to Coherus’
business in general, see Coherus’ Annual Report on Form 10-K for
the year ended December 31, 2021, filed with
the Securities and Exchange Commission on February
23, 2022, including the section therein captioned “Risk Factors”
and in other documents Coherus files with the Securities and
Exchange Commission.UDENYCA®, YUSIMRY™ and CIMERLI™, whether or not
appearing in large print or with the trademark symbol, are
trademarks of Coherus, its affiliates, related companies or its
licensors or joint venture partners, unless otherwise noted.
Trademarks and trade names of other companies appearing in this
press release are, to the knowledge of Coherus, the property of
their respective owners.
Coherus Contact Information
Investors:
McDavid Stilwell
Chief Financial Officer
Coherus BioSciences, Inc.
IR@coherus.com
Media:
Kelli Perkins
Red House
kelli@redhousecomms.com
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