COHERUS BIOSCIENCES WKN: A12ETZ ISIN: US19249H1032 Kürzel: 8C5 Forum: Aktien Thema: Hauptdiskussion

Coherus again axes staff, with 30% of roles on chopping block amid 'sharpened focus' on cancer drugs By Angus Liu Mar 13, 2024 6:10pm CoheruslayoffsrestructuringEarnings Share Layoffs Coherus BioSciences' latest layoffs come as a result of a “sharpened focus” in oncology and a subsequent restructuring, the company said. (Stock photo/Getty Images) About a year after launching a prior round of layoffs, Coherus BioSciences is again reducing its head count, this time by 30%. Coherus unveiled the latest job cuts Wednesday alongside its full-year 2023 financial results. The company was previously left with about 300 employees after a reduction last March forced 60 staffers out of the door. The latest round of cuts started March 7. Coherus aims to complete the reductions by the end of the year and save more than $25 million in annual costs. The layoffs come as a result of a “sharpened focus” in oncology and a subsequent restructuring, Coherus said. The company in January announced that it will sell its ophthalmology franchise surrounding its Lucentis biosimilar to Sandoz for $170 million in cash. The latest job cuts include 35 employees as part of the ophthalmology divestiture. The Lucentis copycat, branded as Cimerli, generated $52 million in fourth-quarter sales for Coherus, bringing its full-year total to $125 million. RELATED Coherus sells Lucentis biosim to Sandoz for $170M to focus on oncology Udenyca, the other biosimilar product in Coherus’ portfolio, references Amgen’s Neulasta. The biosim generated $36 million in the fourth quarter, down from $38 million in the same period last year, but up sequentially. An on-body autoinjector presentation of Udenyca was approved by the FDA toward the end of 2023, and Coherus just launched that version in February. In just a few weeks, 138 accounts have already orded the on-body product, Coherus Chief Commercial Officer Paul Reider said during a call Wednesday. Citing IQVIA data, Coherus said Udenyca held about 26% of the U.S. market share as of March 1. Coherus is rebranding itself from a biosimilar developer to an innovative cancer drug player. The Junshi Biosciences-partnered PD-1 inhibitor Loqtorzi is leading that charge. After a first-in-class FDA approval in nasopharyngeal carcinoma in October, Coherus launched Loqtorzi at the beginning of 2024. Still, the company recorded $600,000 in Loqtorzi sales in the fourth quarter from wholesaler stockpiling, Reider said. The PD-1 latecomer has received payer coverage under its label for about 95% of targeted patients, he added. FEATURED EVENT Join Leading Experts in Life Sciences Communications May 14-15, 2024 Newport Beach, CA Register RELATED Coherus prices China-made PD-1 drug Loqtorzi at 20% discount to Merck's Keytruda In the first few weeks of its launch, Coherus saw 59 targeted nasopharyngeal cancer accounts ordering Loqtorzi, and the company described the uptake as “tracking to expectations.” To further help strengthen Coherus’ capital position, the California company has agreed with Junshi to delay and potentially reduce a $25 million milestone payment that was previously due in the first quarter. Now, Coherus is slated to pay its Chinese partner $12.5 million by June and the rest in the first quarter of 2025, with the possibility to cut back on the second tranche by selling the drug’s Canadian rights, the company said.

https://www.oncologypipeline.com/apexonco/ccr8-expectations

https://gabionline.net/biosimilars/general/addressing-the-persistent-gap-in-medicare-access-to-humira-biosimilars?utm_source=BenchmarkEmail&utm_campaign=GONL_V24D16-23&utm_medium=email

https://investors.coherus.com/news-releases/news-release-details/coherus-presents-preclinical-data-chs-1000-novel-anti-ilt4

Was steht denn drin?

Gute Analyse

https://seekingalpha.com/article/4679494-coherus-biosciences-dumping-one-drug-but-showing-promise-with-another

Das ganze noch 10 Mal und ich bin zufrieden fürs Erste

Na was ist denn heute los

Wo sind wohl die Hebel, damit wir hier wieder nach vorne kommen?

Eine interessante Aussage aus dem Call: Und der Teil, der an Toripalimab nicht geschätzt wird, ist, dass Junshi es weiter entwickelt und mittlerweile alle ihre Studien multiregionale klinische Studien sind, was es für die FDA akzeptabel machen würde. Und so haben sie eine Phase 3 ihrer Pipeline im Gange. Also werden wir zuschauen. Wir sind zwar nicht an dieser Studie beteiligt oder finanzieren sie nicht, aber sobald sie registriert wird, haben wir eindeutig den Marktanteil. Wir werden also darauf achten. Und diese Studie wurde letztes Jahr eröffnet. Also typische Phase-3-Metrik für kleinzelligen Lungenkrebs, also später in den nächsten Jahren.

Der Markt wächst schnell und genauso schnell die Konkurrenz...wohin der Wettbewerb führen kann sieht man bei klassischen Generika.

Alles richtig, doch für die Biosimilar Unternehmen entsteht daraus ein übler Preiskampf bei dem sich kaum Marge machen lässt. Als first mover hast Du 1-2 gute Jahre, dann brökeln die mühsam gewonnenen Marktanteile. Viel Wettbewerb, wenig Burggraben. Hinzu kommen dann noch Knebelverträge durch die großen Pharma, siehe Humira... Long term sehr sehr schwierig

Coherus braucht halt dringend Geld um die Pipeline weiterzubringen.

Ist das positiv?

Du musst aber wissen, dass coherus sich neu aufstellt. Mit Tori wird das Geschäft neu entwickelt.