Fresenius takes options on 37 WuXi Biologics biosimilars in record development deal

Fresenius signed an exclusive development agreement with WuXi Biologics on 2 November 2026 that gives the German group options on up to 37 biosimilar candidates over the next decade¹. Fresenius calls it the largest development agreement yet announced in the biosimilars industry¹.

Terms of the deal

Fresenius currently has 29 marketed and pipeline biosimilar molecules. If it takes up every option, that could rise to as many as 66, aimed at originator medicines with more than €370 billion in list-price-based sales¹. The candidates span 13 therapeutic areas, adding neurology, nephrology and cardiopulmonary to existing positions in oncology, immunology and gastroenterology¹. They cover several biologic formats:

• monoclonal and bispecific antibodies
• antibody-drug conjugates
• fusion proteins¹

The first programmes are expected to be copies of polatuzumab vedotin, the CD79b antibody-drug conjugate sold as Polivy for diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, and teprotumumab, the IGF-1R antibody sold as Tepezza for thyroid eye disease¹.

The money flows on a fee-for-service basis. Fresenius pays WuXi Biologics for each candidate it chooses to develop, so research spending rises only as options are exercised against its criteria of market attractiveness, development risk and expected returns¹. Fresenius keeps exclusive global commercialisation rights, holds the marketing authorisations and takes the full economics of each product that reaches market¹. Development work will run through WuXi Biologics' network, which spans Europe, the United States, China and Singapore¹.

Manufacturing stays open. Fresenius will decide product by product, with the option of moving selected molecules progressively to mAbxience, the Spanish biosimilars company it has owned outright since October 2026 after buying the remaining 45%¹.

What it means for the market

The structure is a capital-light way for a mid-sized biosimilars player to widen its funnel without an acquisition. Fresenius says the deal is funded from operating cash flow, needs no new financing and leaves its full-year 2026 guidance unchanged¹. Chief executive Michael Sen described it as a way "to potentially triple our portfolio while retaining economic ownership, strategic control and the flexibility to allocate capital"¹.

For WuXi Biologics the agreement adds a long-dated stream of contract development work from a European client across advanced formats, including ADCs and bispecifics¹. For originators, a pipeline aimed at more than €370 billion of sales signals more competition as their biologics lose protection, though Fresenius has not said which other molecules are on the list¹.

Fresenius confirmed its 2030 Biopharma ambition, set in December 2025, of roughly doubling Biopharma revenue from 2025 at an EBIT margin of around 20%¹. That target covers only the existing marketed and late-stage portfolio. Fresenius says the WuXi deal sits on top of it and that it expects to raise its long-term Biopharma ambitions significantly¹. Biopharma research spending and profitability will reflect the higher investment while candidates are in development, ahead of any revenue¹.

Caveats

The 66-molecule figure is a ceiling, not a commitment. Fresenius states that whether, when and how many candidates are developed depends on options exercised one at a time, and that it cannot assure any of the identified candidates will reach market¹. No upfront payment or total deal value was disclosed, and the only source is Fresenius' own announcement¹.