In what appears at first glance to be a highly complex share deal, Martinsried-based Formycon AG has reorganized the ownership of its product pipeline. In the course of this, the investment company Athos KG of the Strüngmann Family Office becomes Formycon's largest single shareholder with around 26%.

On the one hand, this involves the FYB201 and FYB202 biosimilar projects previously developed in collaboration, which were brought into the ongoing partnerships with Bioeq AG (since 2016, previously Santo Holding GmbH) and Aristo Pharma GmbH, an Athos company, respectively, in 2013 and 2017 for further development, approval and commercialization. As part of the transaction, Formycon acquires the full rights to FYB202, a biosimilar candidate for Stelara®1 (ustekinumab), and a 50% stake in FYB201, a biosimilar candidate for Lucentis®2 (ranibizumab). On the other hand, with the acquisition and integration of its long-standing partner Bioeq GmbH, Formycon is expanding its expertise in several areas that are important for the development, approval and commercialisation of biosimilars.

What may still seem like the mere re-packaging of well-known parts of the company has a completely different dimension in terms of figures: as part of the transactions (issue of new shares to Athos as well as an earn-out component), Formycon will pay approximately €650 million as of the closing date. This will be done with shares, as a result of which Athos will be Formycon's largest shareholder after closing with an indirectly held stake of approximately 26.6% of the share capital. The Formycon share was valued in the context of the transactions with an expert-confirmed fair value of 83.41 euros. It should be noted that the third biosimilar project (FYB206), which has not yet been announced, was also included in this valuation.

Chief Financial Officer Nicolas Combé emphasizes the "transformative character" of the agreement: "The certified valuation reports of both parties confirm the attractiveness of this transaction for Formycon and implicitly also the potential of our share. This should be significantly further increased by these acquisitions. The measure empowers Formycon to expand its sphere of operation in the strongly growing biosimilar market. In addition, we have been able to manifest Formycon at the centre of Athos' - and thus the Strüngmann brothers' - biosimilar activities." While in the previous constellation the projects were out-licensed and thus the main part of possible revenues was handed over to the outside, these assets and the possible high revenue streams are now centred again at Formycon itself. Combé does not want this to be understood as a new start for the company, however, and speaks rather of a "new step" in which the company's core as a development house for biosimilars with a strong anchor shareholder can be emphasized even more clearly.

The FYP203 biosimilar project and the division of the related commercialisation rights were not part of the new agreement and remain unaffected. Similarly, Formycon's COVID-19 project is well on its way from preclinical to clinical development, but as a "stand-alone, innovative" project it is not the company's actual focus.