GSK takes equity stake in Spero, and global rights to tebipenem except for certain Asian markets. Merck KGaA gets rights to Nerviano’s next-generation PARP inhibitor for cancer.

Israel’s Kamada has struck a licensing deal with Alvotech that gives it rights to several of the firm’s biosimilars in its domestic market. The first launch, of the teriparatide biosimilar co-developed with Pfenex, is planned for 2022.

Pfenex believes it and commercial partner Alvogen could enjoy an extended period as the only direct competitor to Eli Lilly’s Forteo teriparatide reference brand in the US.

Alvogen has signed marketing deals with local firms in Canada, Israel and South Korea for the teriparatide drug it has licensed from Pfenex. In the US, Pfenex has just completed a human factors study it feels should support a therapeutic equivalence rating for its Forteo rival.