Fresenius’s 37-Drug Biosimilar Option: Why the Real Test Is Approval, Not the Headline

Fresenius has secured an unusually broad set of options to develop biosimilar medicines with WuXi Biologics, but the agreement is a pipeline opportunity—not 37 approved drugs, and not a promise of immediate lower prices for patients.

The German healthcare group announced on November 2, 2026, that its exclusive development agreement provides access to up to 37 identified biosimilar candidates over the next decade. If every opportunity were pursued, its marketed and development-stage portfolio could expand from 29 molecules to as many as 66. The crucial words are “up to”: Fresenius retains the right to decide which projects advance, and no new regulatory approvals were announced.

What the €370 billion figure actually measures

The company says the prospective candidates address reference medicines with more than €370 billion in combined originator sales, calculated using list prices. That is the size of a reference market, not the contract value, the revenue Fresenius expects to collect or savings already delivered to health systems. Market access, patent and exclusivity timelines, competing biosimilars, manufacturing costs and pricing negotiations will determine how much of that opportunity is commercially reachable.

Fresenius says the planned portfolio spans 13 therapeutic areas. It identifies polatuzumab vedotin, used in certain lymphoma treatments, and teprotumumab, used for thyroid eye disease, as expected early development priorities. These are reference active substances for potential biosimilar development, not newly approved Fresenius versions.

Why biosimilars matter—and why approval is not automatic

Biosimilars are biological medicines designed to be highly similar to an already authorised reference medicine. Unlike ordinary chemical generics, their complex manufacturing requires a detailed comparability assessment. The European Medicines Agency requires evidence showing no clinically meaningful differences in quality, safety and efficacy. Approval and competition can widen access to important treatments, but neither a signed development agreement nor a successful laboratory programme guarantees a product reaches patients.

The commercial structure gives Fresenius a choice rather than an obligation to develop every candidate. WuXi will be paid for development services on programmes Fresenius selects; Fresenius expects to retain exclusive worldwide commercialisation rights to resulting products. It also has flexibility over long-term manufacturing, including possible use of its recently fully acquired mAbxience operations. These arrangements may help manage capital at risk, although research expenditure will rise as projects advance.

The financial test comes before the patient benefit

Fresenius says its 2026 guidance is unchanged and its existing 2030 Biopharma goal—approximately doubling revenue from 2025 with an EBIT margin around 20%—does not rely on the new agreement. It expects the deal to create opportunities beyond 2030. The company also acknowledges that development costs could weigh on profitability before any future launches contribute sales.

For investors, the key milestones are the number of options actually exercised, regulatory submissions and approvals, manufacturing readiness, and the economics of individual launches. For patients and payers, the meaningful outcome is whether additional approved products enter markets at competitive prices without compromising the regulatory standards applied to biological medicines. Those outcomes remain to be demonstrated.

Editorial distinction: This is an agreement to develop possible future medicines. It is not a clinical trial result, a regulatory approval, a new drug launch or a guaranteed price reduction.

Sources and further reading

Featured image: illustrative laboratory equipment photograph by Talha Hassan / Unsplash; not a Fresenius or WuXi facility or an image of any announced medicine.

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