Celltrion-Samsung to compete in biosimilars in US market
Kim Ji Seob | cloud50@ | 2017-07-28 10:51:12
The competition between Korean biosimilars in the US, the world`s largest pharmaceutical market, is getting hot. Korean biosimilars of Remicade, an autoimmune disease drug that generates annual sales of KRW 5 trillion, have entered the United States one after another and fierce initiative fights have begun.
Celltrion, a biosimilator of Remicade, an autoimmune disease drug in the United States, achieved sales of USD 2.826 million (USD 31.4 million) in the first half of this year. Samsung BioEpis has released the Renes Flexis biosimilars of the same ingredient on Merck (MSD) in the US market on July 24 (local time).
Janssen sells Remicade at USD 1168 per unit based on the average wholesale price (WAC), and Celltrion sells Inflactra at USD 946 through Pfizer in the US. Samsung BioEpis sells Renflexis at USD 753. In order to overcome the disadvantages of late buyers in the situation that the release is about 7 months later than the Infllectra introduced in December last year, it was priced about USD 200 lower than the original biosimilar by about 35% lower than the original.
Meanwhile, Pfizer, which Samsung expects to implement such a pricing policy, has rained its infllector prices to USD 753 in the third quarter from July to September. Likewise, it faces the market at 64.5% of the original price. Celltrion expects Inflexa to retain its leading position in that it holds prescription data accumulated over two years in Europe and has clinical data on inflammatory bowel disease that is not present in Renflexis. Samsung`s strategy is to launch the Remicade market worth KRW 5 trillion as much as possible, but it is expected to be successful.
As the two companies intensify price competition, the market for Remicade biosimilars in the US is expected to grow rapidly. Quintiles IMS, a market research firm, recently released a report on the European biosimilar market, which shows that the sales of biopharmaceuticals increased more rapidly after the launch of the biosimilars, while the increase in the price of the biosimilars was larger.
In the case of Norway, where the share of biosimilars is 82%, the average price of original products and biosimilars dropped by 48% in 2013 after the launch of biosimilars, and the proportion of total biopharmaceutical sales increased by 48% in proportion. Finland, on the other hand, biosimilars share 61%, average prices fell 24% and total sales volume grew 47%. In France, the biosimilar was 65% cheaper than the original product, and the market grew 12% after about 20 months.
Lee Tae-yeong, Meritz Securities Co., Ltd researcher, said, "Celltrion and Samsung BioEpis have accumulated production know-how through years of sales experience and have cost competitiveness higher than multinational pharmaceutical companies by dramatically shortening development time. In the Korean biosimilar industry is expected to advance into the global market. "
Meanwhile, Celltrion`s Ramsima accounted for 42% of the original in Europe in the first quarter. In the United States, Remicade`s sales in the second quarter were USD 1.64 billion, a decrease of 13.9% compared to the same period last year. With Celltrion and Samsung taking over 40% of the original market as in Europe and sales is expected to exceed KRW 2 trillion.
By Kim Ji Seob cloud50@
[ copyright ⓒ The Digitaltimes ]
Celltrion, a biosimilator of Remicade, an autoimmune disease drug in the United States, achieved sales of USD 2.826 million (USD 31.4 million) in the first half of this year. Samsung BioEpis has released the Renes Flexis biosimilars of the same ingredient on Merck (MSD) in the US market on July 24 (local time).
Janssen sells Remicade at USD 1168 per unit based on the average wholesale price (WAC), and Celltrion sells Inflactra at USD 946 through Pfizer in the US. Samsung BioEpis sells Renflexis at USD 753. In order to overcome the disadvantages of late buyers in the situation that the release is about 7 months later than the Infllectra introduced in December last year, it was priced about USD 200 lower than the original biosimilar by about 35% lower than the original.
Meanwhile, Pfizer, which Samsung expects to implement such a pricing policy, has rained its infllector prices to USD 753 in the third quarter from July to September. Likewise, it faces the market at 64.5% of the original price. Celltrion expects Inflexa to retain its leading position in that it holds prescription data accumulated over two years in Europe and has clinical data on inflammatory bowel disease that is not present in Renflexis. Samsung`s strategy is to launch the Remicade market worth KRW 5 trillion as much as possible, but it is expected to be successful.
As the two companies intensify price competition, the market for Remicade biosimilars in the US is expected to grow rapidly. Quintiles IMS, a market research firm, recently released a report on the European biosimilar market, which shows that the sales of biopharmaceuticals increased more rapidly after the launch of the biosimilars, while the increase in the price of the biosimilars was larger.
In the case of Norway, where the share of biosimilars is 82%, the average price of original products and biosimilars dropped by 48% in 2013 after the launch of biosimilars, and the proportion of total biopharmaceutical sales increased by 48% in proportion. Finland, on the other hand, biosimilars share 61%, average prices fell 24% and total sales volume grew 47%. In France, the biosimilar was 65% cheaper than the original product, and the market grew 12% after about 20 months.
Lee Tae-yeong, Meritz Securities Co., Ltd researcher, said, "Celltrion and Samsung BioEpis have accumulated production know-how through years of sales experience and have cost competitiveness higher than multinational pharmaceutical companies by dramatically shortening development time. In the Korean biosimilar industry is expected to advance into the global market. "
Meanwhile, Celltrion`s Ramsima accounted for 42% of the original in Europe in the first quarter. In the United States, Remicade`s sales in the second quarter were USD 1.64 billion, a decrease of 13.9% compared to the same period last year. With Celltrion and Samsung taking over 40% of the original market as in Europe and sales is expected to exceed KRW 2 trillion.
By Kim Ji Seob cloud50@