Saxenda and Qsymia take up 57% of the obesity market share

The obesity drug market size reached 178 billion won last year, marking the largest for five consecutive years

Saxenda topped 66.8 billion won in sales, leading the market for five consecutive years, and Qsymia holds a 20% market share

Last year, Korea’s obesity drug market size reached its largest size in history.

 

It broke the record in 2019, and since then, the market size expanded for five consecutive years.

 

Saxenda and Qsymia account for 60 % of the total market share.

 

Meanwhile, sales of previous obesity drugs, such as psychotropic drugs, are declining, further polarizing the market.

 

As blockbuster drugs gaining popularity overseas are nearing launch in Korea, the dynamics of the Korean obesity drug market are expected to change in the future.

 

The market for obesity drugs was 178 billion won last year, up 1.3% from the previous year, according to a pharmaceutical market research company IQVIA on the 29th.

 

The market for obesity drugs reached 134.1 billion won in 2019, hitting a new record in ten years, and changed its record for four consecutive years.

 

The market has been growing rapidly every year, with an increase of 83.9% over five years since it made 96.8 billion won in 2018.

 

Annual obesity market size (left) and market share percentages of Saxenda and Qsymia in Korea (right) (Unit: 100 million won, Source: IQVIA).

The introduction of Saxenda and Qsymia recently has expanded the market for obesity drugs.

 

Last year, Saxenda recorded sales of 66.8 billion won, marking a 13.4% increase compared to the previous year, achieving a new record for two consecutive years.

 

After recording sales of 42.6 billion won in 2019, Saxenda slowed in sales in 2020 and 2021, with 36.8 billion won and 36.2 billion won, respectively.

 

It is analyzed that due to limited outdoor activities during the initial spread of Covid-19, the interest in obesity drugs may have decreased.

 

However, it has been noted that the demand for Saxenda rose as many people gained weight due to reduced outdoor activities during the Covid-19 pandemic since 2020, and as outdoor activities resumed, the demand for Saxenda continued to increase.

 

In comparison to the sales in 2020, Saxenda's sales in 2022 increased by 84.4% over the course of two years.

 

Saxenda, launched in Korea in 2018, is the first glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) agonist medication for obesity.

 

It contains the same ingredient as Victoza (ingredient: liraglutide), which is prescribed to patients with type 2 diabetes, but with different methods of administration and dosages.

 

Saxenda became the top-selling drug in the market after recording sales of 42.6 billion won in 2019, just after its launch, and maintained the place for five consecutive years.

 

The mechanism of action of Saxenda was designed similarly to the body’s GLP-1, leading to the suppression of appetite and weight loss.

 

It gained popularity with the perception that it is relatively safer than existing weight-loss drugs.

 

According to estimates, Saxenda took up a 37.5% market share of the obesity market last year.

 

While Saxenda’s market share grew significantly from 7.8% in 2018 to 31.8% in 2019, it slowed down in 2020 and 2021, holding 25.8% and 25.2%, respectively.

 

However, in 2022, Saxenda’s market share increased to over 30% and continued to grow last year.

 

Alvogen Korea’s Qsymia has been gaining popularity recently.

 

Qsymia reached sales of 35.5 billion won last year, an increase of 18.0 % compared to the previous year.

 

In two years since 2021, when it made 26.2 billion won, the sales expanded by 35.4%.

 

Qsymia, a combination drug of “phentermine’ and ‘topiramate,’ was launched in late 2019.

 

Alvogen Korea acquired the sales rights for Qsymia in Korea from Vivus of the United States in 2017.

 

Alvogen initiated domestic marketing through a joint sales agreement with Chong Kun Dang.

 

Despite oral administration, Qsymia has a relatively small amount of psychotropic drug ingredients, and it has the advantage that it can be prescribed for an extended period.

 

Alvogen Korea's extensive sales networks in the domestic obesity market, gained from its previous experience selling Furing and Furimin, synergized with Chong Kun Dang's business power to penetrate the market with Qsymia rapidly.

 

Last year, Qsymia's market share in the obesity treatment market increased by 2.8% compared to the previous year, reaching 19.9%.

 

The combined market share of Saxenda and Qsymia accounted for 57.5% of the total obesity market last year.

 

The market share of Saxenda and Qsymia increased by 16.0% over two years, from 41.5% in 2020, significantly enhancing their market influence.

 

In contrast, existing obesity drugs, excluding Saxenda and Qsymia, showed weakness overall.

 

Sales of obesity drugs, excluding Saxenda and Qsymia, decreased by 12.7% to 757 billion won compared to the previous year.

 

Daewoong Pharmaceutical's Dietamin saw a decrease in sales to 7 billion won last year, down 11.5% from the previous year.

 

Huons' Hutermin recorded sales of 4.3 billion won, a 10.7% decrease from the prior year.

 

The market share of existing obesity treatments, excluding Saxenda and Qsymia, was 68.2% in 2019 but decreased to 42.5% last year.

 

The industry anticipates that the emergence of overseas validated blockbuster treatments for obesity would bring significant changes in market dynamics.

 

Last April, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) approved Novo Nordisk's Wegovy.

 

Wegovy is a GLP-1 agonist in the same class as Saxenda.

 

Novo Nordisk improved upon Saxenda, administered once daily, by making Wegovy a once-weekly injection.

 

Since its release in the U.S.

 

market, Wegovy's demand has surged to the point of shortages, with even Ozempic, a diabetes treatment with the same ingredient and usage, experiencing stockouts due to its high popularity.

 

Eli Lilly's Mounjaro received approval from the MFDS in June last year.

 

Mounjaro is a next-generation GLP-1 agonist that activates GLP-1 and GIP receptors with a once-weekly dose.

 

It was approved as a treatment for type 2 diabetes and is expected to secure indications for obesity treatment in the future.

 

Since its approval in the United States last year, Mounjaro generated sales of 2 trillion won in the first half of this year.

 

With Mounjaro's approval as an obesity treatment, it is expected to bring significant changes in the obesity drug market alongside Wegovy.