After a wave of big pharma interest in the biosimilars arena, originator enthusiasm for the sector appears to be waning – potentially opening up an opportunity for newcomers to compete on off-patent biologics.

The planned spin-off of Merck & Co’s Organon unit, with annual sales of $6.5bn including from biosimilars, is nearing completion, with the originator filing documentation with the SEC and unveiling a progressive female-majority board of directors for the new company.

While in possession of a token biosimilar portfolio and pipeline, Sanofi has made it clear that its R&D dollars are unlikely to be spent on biosimilars, six months after reshaping its pipeline by exiting diabetes and cardiovascular diseases research.