Samsung Bioepis targets Stelara market

Will it be able to overtake the current cash cow's spot

Will release its products in July... Knocking on the door with its price competitiveness

Company sells more than half of all its products directly... will become a test of the company’s marketing capabilities

Samsung Bioepis is seeking to target the Stelara (Ustekinumab) market by directly marketing its Stelara biosimilar Epyztek in Korea.

 

The company is adding Epyztek to the list of autoimmune disease treatments it has been selling directly since March, a strategy that is expected to strengthen its marketing capabilities while increasing profitability.

 

A view of the Samsung Bioepis building in Songdo.

Samsung Bioepis will launch Epyztek, an autoimmune disease treatment, in the Korean market in July.

 

Epyztek is a biosimilar of Stelara, Janssen’s treatment for autoimmune diseases such as plaque psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, Crohn's disease, and ulcerative colitis.

 

Epyztek was approved by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety in April.

 

Stelara inhibits interleukin (IL)-12/23 activity, a class of inflammatory cytokines (signal transmitters).

 

As of 2023, its annual global product was around KRW 1.4 trillion, and domestic market sales were around KRW 41.6 billion.

 

According to the ‘Drug Reimbursement List and Reimbursement Ceiling Table' announced by the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service as of July 1, Epyztek is priced at KRW 1,298,290 per 45mg/0.5ml prefilled syringe.

 

This is about 40% lower than the price of the existing original drug.

 

Although Stelara’s price will also be reduced following the launch of the biosimilar, Epyztek still has a price advantage.

 

Professor A, Department of Gastroenterology at a tertiary hospital in Seoul, Korea, said, "There seems to be little doubt about the effectiveness of biosimilars as prescriptions have accumulated.

 

The financial burden of Stelara’s initial intravenous infusion may serve to lower the threshold for the introduction of its biosimilars." The biggest characteristic of biosimilars is in their lower cost compared to the original.

 

However, in Korea, the price difference is not large due to the low patient copayment rate applied through Korea’s insurance reimbursement system, but Stelara’s characteristics may still provide competitivity for the biosimilars.  Another characteristic of Epyztek is that the company sells the product directly.

 

Since March, Samsung Bioepis has switched to direct sales of 3 autoimmune disease drugs that it had been selling in partnership with Yuhan Corp.

 

With the exception of anticancer and ophthalmic drugs, the company’s decision to switch to direct sales is interpreted as the company’s attempt to increase the profitability of the drugs.

 

Currently, Samsung Bioepis has about 20 domestic sales personnel for direct sales, and in March, it secured a distribution network in the domestic market by signing a pharmaceutical third-party logistics contract (3PL) with Geo-Young.

 

In the field, the prospect is that Epyztek’ssales will depend on Samsung Bioepis' marketing capabilities and how quickly it can land in the market.

 

An industry official said, "It is true that the marketing capabilities cannot be ignored due to the nature of biosimilars.

 

However, given how Samsung Bioepis already has experience in selling biosimilars for autoimmune diseases, we expect sales to be directly related to how quickly the drug can land in each hospital." A Samsung Bioepis official said, “We are able to offer various treatment opportunities for patients with autoimmune diseases with the launch of Epyztek.

 

Based on the reasonable drug price, we expect the drug to address the unmet demand in the field and contribute to saving national health insurance finances."