Alvotech and Finesse Announce Exciting Bio-Manufacturing Collaboration

REYKJAVIK, Iceland, March 14, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Alvotech, a powerful new player in the field of biopharmaceuticals and Finesse Solutions, Inc. ("Finesse"), today announce that they have entered into a partnership that will provide Alvotech with world-class, scalable, flexible and cost-efficient manufacturing and laboratory technology through the Finesse turnkey SmartFactory® GMP manufacturing platform suite. SmartFactory® is a single-use cGMP bio-manufacturing capacity, which will allow Alvotech to rapidly expand its biosimilars business. Finesse's customers will benefit from unprecedented access to Alvogen's commercial, FDA approved, biomanufacturing facility.

Commenting, Dr. Andreas Herrmann, CEO of Alvotech, said: "This partnership allows us to leverage Finesse's single-use bio-manufacturing automation platform, combining best-of-breed bio-process equipment from upstream through downstream. This strategic relationship provides us with much-needed additional manufacturing capacity and scale-up capabilities which will allow us to expedite our ambitions to become a global leader in the high-growth biopharmaceutical industry. The first manufacturing suite will be in place by the end of 2015."

Dr. Barbara Paldus, CEO of Finesse, added: "Alvotech is capitalizing on the extraordinary flexibility afforded by SmartFactory, and together we will be able to implement cutting-edge, innovative solutions for established and development-stage biosimilars processes. The Alvotech facility will showcase our latest SMART technologies in process control, batch automation and data management.  This partnership will also provide us with an important path to offer full-scale commercial manufacturing to our customers."

About Alvotech

Alvotech is a powerful new player in the field of biopharmaceuticals, where current portfolio assets include biosimilar versions of leading monoclonal antibodies molecules. Alvotech is proud to offer its biologics manufacturing capabilities to its partners and to cooperate in the commercialization of its own developed biosimilar pipeline. Its state of the art manufacturing facilities, contract manufacturing for biologics, and in-house clinical capabilities are just a few of the many reasons why Alvotech is the partner of excellence for biosimilar initiatives. Alvotech's development and manufacturing center will open in early 2016. Alvotech is open for partnerships and licenses for its current biosimilar assets worldwide.  Learn more about Alvotech at www.alvotech.com.

About Finesse Solutions, Inc.

California-based Finesse Solutions, Inc., has established a proven record in providing turn-key, scalable solutions for single-use upstream bio-processing.  The Finesse product platform includes a novel disposable sensors, modular automation hardware, and intelligent software that can harmonize data and technology transfer globally.  Finesse also offers a complete set of services including commissioning and validation for rapid and reliable deployment of single-use equipment. For more information, please visit us at www.finesse.com.