September 26, 2014
By Krystle Vermes, BioSpace.com Breaking News Staff
On Thursday, biosimilar drug developer Coherus Biosciences Inc. announced that it has filed an S-1 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for an $86.2 million in an initial public offering.
Although no pricing terms have been revealed, J.P. Morgan and Credit Suisse are the bookrunners on the deal. Coherus BioSciences will be listed on NASDAQ under the symbol, CHRS.
The California-based company, which was founded in 2010, first raised $55 million in May for its initiative. It made $10 million in revenue for the 12 months that ended on June 30 of this year. A late stage biologics platform company, it continues to work toward becoming the global leader in the biosimilar market, with commercialization partnerships in Europe, Asia and Latin America.
The company uses analytics, process science and clinical and regulatory capabilities to move its clinical candidates through the drug development pipeline. It has the scalable business model needed to make an impact in the fast-evolving biosimilars marketplace.
A Change within the Board of Directors
On Sept. 24, Coherus announced that it had appointed Mary Szela, chief executive officer of Melinta Therapeutics, to its board of directors. Szela brings more than 25 years of experience to the company with a history that includes work at companies such as Abbott Laboratories.
While at Abbott, she was responsible for the company’s peri-operative, intensive care and pain management pharmaceutical business, as well as the global One 2 One outsourcing business.
“We are delighted to welcome Mary Szela to our team,” said Denny Lanfear, president and chief executive officer of Coherus. “Mary’s experience in pharmaceutical sales and marketing will complement our team’s proven product development capabilities, enhancing our cloning-to-commercialization expertise.”
Szela also serves on the board of directors for the company, Suneva Medical, and has a bachelor’s degree in nursing and Master degree of Business Administration from the University of Illinois.
“Coherus has established a highly effective biosimilar development platform to gain regulatory approval of these complex biologics, and shares my personal desire to increase access to essential therapeutics to patients around the world,” Szela said following the announcement. “I look forward to working with the distinguished board of directors at Coherus to advance its collaborative business model and propel its pipeline of biosimilars to the market.”
