BAD HOMBURG – – November 02, 2026 -- Fresenius has secured exclusive rights to up to 37 biosimilar candidates under a development agreement with WuXi Biologics. The company calls it the largest development agreement announced in the biosimilars industry to date. The deal could lift Fresenius' portfolio from 29 marketed and pipeline molecules today to as many as 66 over the next decade, addressing more than €370 billion in originator list-price-based sales.
Fresenius keeps full commercial economics and selection control
Fresenius will hold exclusive global commercialization rights, including marketing authorizations, and the full economics of each commercialized product. It will select and advance candidates against three criteria: market attractiveness, development risk and expected returns. Development is expected to run through WuXi Biologics' network across Europe, the United States, China and Singapore.
CEO Michael Sen said Fresenius is "doubling down" on Biopharma, and that the agreement gives it a scalable way to potentially triple its portfolio.
Portfolio would span 13 therapeutic areas, starting with two assets
The next-generation portfolio is expected to cover 13 therapeutic areas. It would expand into neurology, nephrology and cardiopulmonary, and strengthen existing positions in oncology, immunology and gastroenterology. Technologies include monoclonal and bispecific antibodies, antibody-drug conjugates and fusion proteins.
Initial development is expected to focus on polatuzumab vedotin, an antibody-drug conjugate for diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, and teprotumumab, a monoclonal antibody for thyroid eye disease. The reference products are marketed as Polivy (Genentech) and Tepezza (Amgen).
mAbxience network offers manufacturing flexibility after October buyout
Fresenius will decide the long-term manufacturing strategy for each candidate. That includes the potential progressive transfer of selected products to mAbxience, which it has wholly owned since October 2026. The Spain-headquartered company is the wholly owned platform that benefits from the larger candidate funnel. Fresenius says this enables greater value capture across development, manufacturing and commercialization.
Fee-for-service structure ties R&D spend to program progress
Fresenius will pay WuXi Biologics on a fee-for-service basis for each candidate it selects. R&D investment therefore scales only as selected programs advance. Biopharma R&D expenditure and profitability will reflect the higher investment during development, ahead of future revenue and profit growth.
Full-year 2026 guidance is unchanged. Fresenius also confirmed its 2030 Biopharma ambition of roughly doubling revenue versus 2025 at an EBIT margin of around 20%. That target relates only to the existing marketed and late-stage portfolio. The new agreement is additive, and Fresenius expects to raise its long-term Biopharma ambitions significantly.
The deal is funded from operating cash flow and requires no new financing, with continued priority on deleveraging. Fresenius is rated BBB with a positive outlook by S&P, Baa3 with a stable outlook by Moody's, and BBB- with a positive outlook by Fitch.