'SGLT2·DPP4' comb market records robust growth

Q3 cumulative prescription sales amounted to KRW 24.7B…steady growth since Q4 2023

Esgliteo·Zemidapa·Qtern sales rise…the other 50 companies generated below KRW 500 million

Product photos of Qtern, Esgliteo, Esgliteo, and Sugadapa (clockwise from upper left).

The market for combination drugs containing SGLT-2 inhibitor and DPP-4 inhibitor for treating type 2 diabetes is showing rapid growth.

 

The industry expects the market size to expand by over KRW 30 billion this year.

 

Products containing one or more original active ingredients are leading the market growth.

 

Boehringer Ingelheim's 'Esgliteo' ranked top in prescription sales with cumulative sales of KRW 8.6 billion this year.

 

It was followed by LG Chem's 'Zemidapa,' with KRW 6.1 billion, and AstraZeneca Korea's Qtern, with KRW 3.5 billion.

 

'SGLT2i+DPP4i combination drugs' generated KRW 9.5B in Q3…Will it surpass yearly KRW 30B? According to a pharmaceutical market research firm UBIST on October 2, two-drug combination drugs with SGLT-2 inhibitor and DPP-4 inhibitor generated KRW 9.5 billion in net sales in Q3 2024.

 

The sales rose significantly over three-fold compared to KRW 2.8 billion of Q3 2023.

 

This market was established with expanded reimbursement for diabetes combination therapy since April 2023.

 

The government approved reimbursement of SGLT-2 inhibitor and DPP-4 inhibitor combination.

 

After that, combination drugs containing different combinations were launched.

 

In the same month, the patent of SLGT-2 inhibitor, 'Forxiga (dapagliflozin),' expired.

 

Companies with original products with DPP-4 inhibitor have started to launch combination drugs with dapagliflozin class.

 

In September, the DPP-4 inhibitor 'Januvia (sitagliptin)' patent expired.

 

After that, generic companies without original active ingredients jumped into the competition.

 

Quarterly prescription market size of SGLT2i+DPP4i combination drugs (unit: KRW 100 million, source: UBIST).

Earlier in the launch, two-drug combination drugs generated below-expected sales.

 

In 2023, the sales amounted to KRW 700 million in Q2 and KRW 2.8 billion in Q3.

 

According to an analysis, the sales rose from Q4.

 

It recorded KRW 5.3 billion in Q4 2023.

 

This year, the sales significantly rose to KRW 7 billion in Q1, 8.2 billion in Q2, and 9.5 billion in Q3.

 

The pharmaceutical industry expects sales to surpass KRW 10 billion for Q4 2024.

 

The cumulative prescription sales in Q3 amounted to KRW 24.7 billion.

 

This year's market size is expected to expand to over KRW 30 billion.

 

Combination drugs with original products such as Esgliteo·Zemidapa show strong growth By products, products with original active ingredient are showing strong growth regardless of Korean pharmaceutical companies or global pharmaceutical companies.

 

Boehringer Ingelheim's 'Esgliteo' generated the highest prescription sales in Q3 2024 with cumulative sales of KRW 8.6 billion.

 

Last year, Boehringer Ingelheim launched two-drug combination drugs with its in-house originals, Jardiance (empagliflozin) and Tradjenta (linagliptin).

 

It was followed by LG Chem's 'Zemidapa' with cumulative prescription sales of KRW 6.1 billion.

 

Zemidapa contains LG-Chem's proprietary Zemiglo (gemigliptin) and dapagliflozin.

 

The company launched this product after Forxiga's patent expired in April 2023.

 

The next in sales is Astra Zeneca's 'Qtern' with KRW 3.5 billion.

 

AstraZeneca combined its proprietary original Forxiga and Onglyza (saxagliptin).

 

In South Korea, Ildong Pharmaceutical is responsible for the distribution of Qtern.

 

AstraZeneca also has 'Sidapvia' with a different combination.

 

Sidapvia's cumulative prescription sales are KRW 1.2 billion.

 

It is a combination drug with dapagliflozin·sitagliptin.

 

AstraZeneca collaborated with SK Chemicals to develop this drug and launched it in the market around the time of Januvia's patent expiration in September 2023.

 

In South Korea, SK Chemicals is responsible for domestic production, and HK inno.N distributes the drug.

 

The next drugs in rank are Chong Kun Dang's 'Exiglu-S' with KRW 1.1 billion, and Dong-A ST's 'Sugadapa' with KRW 1 billion.

 

Chong Kun Dang launched Exiglu-S with a combination of Januvia, acquired from MDS, and dapagliflozin.

 

Dong-A ST launched Sugadapa with a combination of its proprietary DPP-4 class Suganon (evogliptin) and dapagliflozin.

 

The remaining 50 companies have generated cumulative prescription sales below KRW 500 billion up to Q3 2024.

 

Most of these companies compete with products with dapagliflozin+sitagliptin.

 

However, analysis suggests that their sales are below expected because they have entered the market later than other combination drugs with originals over five months, and many products were launched around the same time.