Teva will acquire biopharma company

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries has agreed to pay $400 million in cash for CoGenesys, a Rockville, Md.-based biopharmaceutical company focused on developing peptide- and protein-based drugs. The Israeli generics company says the purchase advances its strategy to become a leader in biosimilars, generic equivalents to biopharmaceutical drugs. Though the U.S. currently does not have a pathway for approving biosimilars, Teva markets such products, including human growth hormone and interferon alpha 2b, in other countries. CoGenesys, which was spun off of Human Genome Sciences in 2006, contributes technology that can extend the half-life and improve the safety of biotherapeutics.