Biosimilars Onbevezy·Remsima compete for sales lead in KOR

Samsung Bioepis' Onbevezy has generated sales of KRW 11.5 billion in Q3…maintaining a leading position in the biosimilar market for five consecutive quarters

Celltrion's Remsima has held the top sales position over 10 years…has recovered its upward trend this year

Herzuma exceeded its sales of last year in 9 months

Biosimilars developed by Celltrion and Samsung Bioepis have been expanding their presence in the domestic market.

 

Samsung Bioepis' Onbevezy has surpassed sales of KRW 10 billion, becoming the top-selling biosimilar developed in South Korea.

 

Since Q3 of last year, Celltrion's Remsima has allowed Onbevezy to take a market-leading position.

 

However, it shows a rebound, with quarterly sales increasing to KRW 10 billion, reducing the gap with the market leaders.

 

According to the Financial Supervisory Service on December 5, domestic sales of Samsung Bioepis' Onbevezy increased by 12.9% year-over-year (YoY), with KRW 11.5 billion.

 

Onbevezy has recorded the highest sales among domestically developed biosimilar products, surpassing Remsima by a difference of KRW 300 million.

 

Sales trends were analyzed based on disclosed sales by Boryung and Celltrion Pharm, companies selling biosimilars from Samsung Bioepis and Celltrion.

 

Domestic sales trend of major biosimilars developed in KOR.

 

Onbevezy (purple), Remsima (blue), Herzuma (orange), and Truxima (grey).

 

(unit: KRW 1 million, source: FSS)

Onbevezy is a biosimilar to the anticancer drug Avastin.

 

It is an anticancer drug used to treat patients with metastatic colorectal cancer, metastatic breast cancer, non-small cell lung cancer, advanced or metastatic renal cell carcinoma, glioblastoma, epithelial ovarian cancer, carcinoma of the fallopian tube, primary peritoneal cancer, and cervical cancer.

 

Samsung Bioepis launched Onbevezy in September 2021 in the Avastin market.

 

Celltrion and Alvogen Korea also entered the market.

 

In Q2, Onbevezy surpassed sales of KRW 10 billion for the first time, maintaining the increasing trend through Q3 2024.

 

The sales of Onbevezy exceeded Remsima, reaching KRW 9.2 billion in Q1.

 

However, Onbevezy allowed for a reversal in Q2.

 

Onbevezy regained the market-leading position in Q3 2023, exceeding Remsima's sales.

 

It maintained this position for five consecutive quarters.

 

Onbevezy's cumulative sales in Q3 amounted to KRW 34.6 billion, an increase of 17.4% YoY compared to last year's KRW 29.5 billion.

 

Onbevezy entered the market first among other biosimilar products.

 

Analysis suggests that a customized marketing strategy maximized the synergy.

 

After obtaining the domestic approval of Onbevezy, Samsung Bioepis signed an exclusive sales agreement with Boryung, one of the Korean companies with strength in the field of anticancer drugs.

 

In May 2020, Boryung newly established an ONCO (anticancer) sector.

 

The company independently separated the sector from the prescription medicine sector.

 

Boryung secured sales rights to various anticancer drugs and biosimilars owned by Korean and international companies.

 

With the LBA (Legacy Brands Acquisition) strategy of acquiring sales rights for original anticancer drugs, Boryung secured Gemzar and Alimta.

 

Boryung also secured Korean sales rights for Herceptin biosimilar from Samsung Bioepis.

 

Remsima, which Celltrion Pharm sells, recorded sales of KRW 11.2 billion in Q3, up 13.3% from last year.

 

Remsima is a biosimilar to the autoimmune disease treatment Remicade.

 

It was approved as the first domestically developed antibody biosimilar in 2012.

 

Remsima is used to treat Crohn’s disease, ankylosing spondylitis, ulcerative colitis, and rheumatoid arthritis.

 

Upon launch, Remsima continued to take the leading sales position among biosimilars in South Korea for over 10 years.

 

Last year, Remsima recorded KRW 13.4 billion in Q2.

 

However, it generated KRW 80-90 billion in sales from Q3 2023 to Q2 this year, giving over the leading position in biosimilar sales to Onbevezy.

 

Q2 sales of Remsima increased by 15.7% from the previous quarter, exceeding KRW 10 billion, and it continued to show an increasing trend in Q3.

 

The sales difference between Remsima and Onbevezy was KRW 1.8 billion in Q1.

 

As these drugs recovered an upward trend, the difference was reduced to KRW 300 million in Q3.

 

Onbevezy generated much higher sales.

 

Remsima's cumulative sales in Q3 amounted to KRW 31.8 billion, up 1.2% from the previous year.

 

Celltrion's Herzuma and Truxima generated over KRW 10 billion in sales, showing a stable presence in the market.

 

Herzuma and Truxima are biosimilar to Herceptin and MabThera, respectively.

 

Herzuma's domestic sales amounted to KRW 5.5 billion in Q3, up 20.9% YoY.

 

Herzuma's cumulative sales in Q3 amounted to KRW 15.9 billion, up 46.3% YoY, exceeding last year's sales of KRW 14.9 billion in 9 months.

 

In 2022, Herzuma recorded sales of KRW 13.8 billion.

 

Truxima's sales in Q3 amounted to KRW 3.1 billion, up 12.2% from last year.

 

Cumulative sales in Q3 amounted to KRW 8 billion, down 27.2%.

 

Truxima generated KRW 13.8 billion and KRW 14.9 billion in 2022 and last year, respectively.