Samil voluntarily cuts price of its Vemlino to lowest price

Becomes the cheapest Vemlidy generic available in Korea

Price cut from KRW 2,425 to KRW 2,358…KRW 887 difference with the highest price

Samil Pharm is voluntarily reducing the price of its hepatitis B drug Vemlino (Tenofovir Alafenamide Hemimalate).

 

This will render the drug to be the lowest-priced drug among tenofovir alafenamide drugs, increasing its price competitiveness.

 

According to industry sources on the 18th, the price of Vemlino will be reduced from KRW 2,425 to KRW 2,358 starting next month.  There are currently 9 tenofovir alafenamide-based hepatitis B treatments, including the original Vemlidy (tenofovir alafenamide hemifumarate, Gilead).

 

The other 8 are salt-modified agents.  Vemlidy is an upgraded version of Gilead's Viread.

 

Viread was associated with side effects of decreased kidney function or bone density in some patients, so the upgraded Vemlidy has become the most commonly recommended initial treatment on site as it contains one-tenth the active ingredient dose of Viread while providing the same level of viral suppression.

 

The salt-modified versions of Vemlidy have been sequentially released to the market starting with Dong-A ST’s ‘Vemlia Tab (tenofovir alafenamide citrate).

 

The companies were able to enter the market by avoiding patents through salt modification.

 

However, even with the introduction of such versions, the original's status remained unchanged.

 

Vemlidy’s sales continued to soar, reaching KRW 27.9 billion in 2021, KRW 39.3 billion in 2022, and KRW 49.2 billion in 2023, according to UBIST.

 

This is the third consecutive year that the drug’s upper limit has been reduced through the price-volume agreement negotiations due to increased usage.

 

The price of Vemlino, whose price was lowered this time, was only KRW 300 million (UBIST) last year.

 

Samil had listed its drug at KTW 2,425, lower than the calculated amount when it was listed in July last year, to gain price competitiveness.

 

However, the lowest price title went to Dongkook Pharmaceutical’s Alfoterin Tab (Tenofovir Alafenamide Hemimalate).

 

The upper limit for Alfoterin is KRW 2,424.  This time, Samil lowered the price of Vemlino to KRW 2,328 and took over the lowest price title.

 

The highest price for tenofovir alafenamide is currently KRW 3,235 for the original Vemlidy Tab, and the difference between Vemlidy and Vemlino is KRW 887.  HBV patients are sensitive to the price because they need to take medications for life.

 

Therefore, it will be interesting to see if Vemlino can gain market share with its competitive price.

 

An industry insider said, “The market for tenofovir alafenamide preparations has only 8 generic contestants that entered the market through patent evasions, so there is less competition and the companies can take more of the market share.

 

However, the generic companies are struggling due to high dependence on the original, and the eyes are on whether the low-price competition can break this pattern.”