Medicure and Reliance Team Up for Cardiovascular Biosimilar

Medicure said it has entered an agreement with Reliance Life Sciences (RLS) to market an unnamed cardiovascular biosimilar. Medicure, a Canadian company based in Winnipeg, Alberta, referred to the biosimilar candidate only as “the product.”

As yet, RLS, based in Navi Mumbai, India, has no FDA biosimilar approvals for the US market.

RLS is a diverse pharmaceuticals company with a focus on biotherapeutics, including biosimilars, regenerative medicine, pharmaceuticals, clinical research services, and molecular medicine.

Building Up Medicure's Cardiovascular Portfolio

The agreement gives Medicure exclusive rights to market the agent in the United States, Canada, and the European Union.

"We are very pleased with the agreement we have reached with RLS. The product fits well with Medicure's mission of being a significant cardiovascular company focused on the US market," Albert Friesen, CEO of Medicure, said in a statement.

According to a 2018 analysis by IQVIA, RLS had 14 biosimilars in its pipeline, making it one of the leading biosimilar developers at the time. The Medicure statement described RLS as a company with $86 billion in annual revenues.

Medicure specializes in the development and commercialization of cardiovascular therapies. Two of the products in its portfolio are tirofiban hydrochloride (Aggrastat), an anticoagulant, and pitavastatin (Zypitamag), a cholesterol-lowering statin. Both of these products are marketed in the United States.

No further details of the biosimilar agreement or marketing plan were provided.