Avastin biosimilars occupy over 40% of Avastin mkt

Avastin market size expanded by 55% in 2 years...biosimilar penetration effect

Samsung’s Onbevzi sold KRW 10 billion for 4 consecutive quarters...KRW 5.8 billion difference from the original

Sales of Avastin remain similar after the drug price cut... saving national healthcare finances

Homegrown biosimilars are rapidly expanding their influence in the KRW 100 billion-a-year Avastin market.

 

Biosimilars’ sales have increased to exceed 40% in less than 2 years.

 

Samsung Bioepis' Onbevzi led the growth with sales close to the original drug.

 

According to the market research firm IQVIA, the market size of bevacizumab anticancer drugs in Q1 this year reached KRW 32.7 billion, up 10.8% year-on-year.

 

Compared to the KRW 21.1 billion in Q1 2022, the market has expanded 54.8% in 2 years.

 

The original bevacizumab drug is Roche’s Avastin.

 

It is an anti-cancer drug used for metastatic colorectal and metastatic breast cancer, non-small cell lung cancer, advanced or metastatic renal cell carcinoma, glioblastoma, epithelial ovarian cancer, fallopian tube cancer, primary peritoneal cancer, and cervical cancer.

 

Samsung Bioepis' biosimilar has been the main driver of the recent market expansion for bevacizumab.

 

Samsung Bioepis launched its biosimilar Onbevzi in September 2021, and Celltrion and Alvogen Korea have also entered the Avastin market thereafter.

 

In the first quarter, Onbevzi’s sales increased 33.1% year-on-year to KRW 13.1 billion.

 

This is more than 7 times the sales in two years from KRW 1.8 billion in Q1 2022.

 

Onbevzi showed strong growth immediately after its launch and surpassed KRW 10 billion in sales in Q2  last year.

 

It has recorded sales in the KRW 10 billion range for 4 consecutive quarters through Q1 this year.

 

This is the first time that a domestically developed biosimilar product has exceeded KRW 10 billion in quarterly sales.

 

Celltrion's Remsima posted sales of KRW 9.1 billion in Q1.

 

Celltrion's Vegzelma, however, posted sales of less than KRW 100 million in Q1, unable to show prominence in the market.

 

The analysis is that the fact that Onbevzi was the first biosimilar product to enter the market, along with its customized sales force, maximized the synergies.

 

Samsung Bioepis signed an exclusive distribution agreement with Boryung shortly after Onbevzi’s approval in Korea.

 

Boryung is a Korean company that has strengths in anti-cancer drug sales.

 

In May 2020, Boryung established a new ONCO (oncology) division.

 

The organization that was under the specialty pharmaceuticals division was made independent as a separate division.

 

It secured the rights to various anti-cancer drugs and biosimilars from domestic and foreign companies and acquired Gemzar and Alimta through its Legacy Brands Acquisition (LBA) strategy, which involves buying the rights to original anti-cancer drugs.

 

Boryung also secured the domestic rights to Samsung Bioepis' Avastin and Herceptin biosimilars in 2021.

 

Samsung Bioepis' Samfenet reported first-quarter sales of KRW 1.9 billion, up 79.3% from 2 years ago.

 

Onbevzi’s sales accounted for 40.0% of the Avastin market.

 

This is the first time that a single domestically developed biosimilar product has exceeded 40% share in the anti-cancer drug market.

 

The gap between Onbevzi and Avastin (KRW 18.8 billion) sales was only KRW 5.8 billion.

 

As of Q1, the market share of the 2 domestically developed biosimilars, Onbevzi and Vegzelma, was 40.3% in the Avastin market.

 

Sales of the original Avastin remained unchanged.

 

Avastin’s sales in Q1 were KRW 18.8 billion, down 3.0% YoY.

 

Avastin has maintained quarterly sales in the range of KRW 18 billion to KRW 19 billion range since Q1 2022 when it reported sales of KRW 19.3 billion.

 

Avastin's growth was stable from Q1 to Q3 2021, with sales of KRW 28.7 billion, KRW 30.2 billion, and KRW 30.8 billion, but in Q4 2021, Avastin's sales fell 28.6% from the previous quarter to KRW 22 billion.

 

The sales gap was caused by lower drug prices due to the emergence of biosimilars.

 

The price of Avastin 0.1g/4mL was lowered by 30% from KRW 338,387 to KRW 231,271 in October 2021 due to Onbevzi’s listing.

 

The price of Avastin 0.4 g/16 mL was lowered by 30% from KRW 1,073,531 to KRW 752,746.

 

In principle, when a biosimilar is listed in the domestic drug pricing system, the upper price limit (insurance price ceiling) for the original drug is lowered by 30% compared to before patent expiry.

 

Price of 'Items developed in partnership with innovative pharmaceutical companies, companies of the same status, and a subsidiary of multination companies, or items first approved in Korea, or items produced in Korea' are granted up to 80% of the original product’s price before patent expiry for both original drug and its biosimilars.

 

However, as Samsung Bioepis is not a certified innovative pharmaceutical company, Avastin's drug price has been reduced to 70% of the original price.

 

Although Avastin experienced a reduction in sales due to the price reduction, it has since generated similar sales in terms of volume, minimizing the additional sales gap due to the entry of its biosimilars.

 

Given how Avastin did not experience a significant sales decline after the price reduction, Onbevzi effectively created a new market that generated over KRW 10 billion in quarterly sales.

 

As a result, Onbevzi’s market entry reduced the price of the original drug by 30% and resulted in significant savings for insurance finances and patients.