Trulicity sales fall 30%...affected by supply shortage

Supply disruptions upheaval insulin market in Korea

Sales of GLP-1 receptor antagonist for diabetes reach KRW 11 bil… falls 30% in 1 yr

Sales of Xultophy and Soliqua fluctuate… sales of Tresiba and Ryzodeg remains level

Sales of the GLP-1 receptor antagonist class treatment Trulicity had fallen 30% in 1 year.

 

This is estimated to have been due to the prolonged domestic supply disruptions.

 

Major insulin products that experienced sporadic supply shortages have experienced a sharp decrease in sales.

 

In the case of Xultophy, its sales, which had surged to KRW 4.8 billion in Q2 fell to KRW 3.1 billion in Q3.

 

In the case of Soliqua, its sales, which had remained at the KRW 2 billion level, sur soared to KRW 4 billion in Q3.

 

On the other hand, the two other insulins that have been experiencing shortages – Tresiba and Ryzodeg - saw stable sales in Q3 this year.

 

Trulicity posts record high sales in Q2→sales drop in Q3 due to prolonged supply disruption

Pic of Trulicity

According to the market research institution IQVIA on the 11th, Eli Lilly’s Trulicity’s sales in Q3 were KRW 11 billion.

 

This is a 30% drop from the KRW 15.8 billion it posted in Q3 last year.

 

Trulicity is a GLP-1 receptor antagonist class diabetes drug.

 

GLP-1 analogs are developed using the hormone glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), which is involved in the regulation of blood sugar in the body.

 

GLP-1 hormone stimulates insulin secretion immediately after a meal to lower blood sugar and reduces insulin secretion when blood sugar falls below a certain level to help prevent hypoglycemia.

 

The drug’s performance this quarter is in stark contrast to last quarter's record quarterly revenue.

 

Trulicity's revenue had been growing rapidly until Q2 this year.

 

It crossed the KRW 15 billion mark for the first time in Q3 last year and soared to USD 18 billion in Q2 this year.

 

However, sales fell sharply in Q3.

 

The industry analysis is that its performance is finally experiencing the aftermath of the domestic supply disruption that has been in full swing since Q3, which led to a sharp drop in sales.

 

Trulicity's supply issues began to surface in Q2 this year.

 

In late June, Lilly notified its sales and marketing partner, Boryung, of its difficulties in supplying Trulicity 0.75mg/0.5ml in Korea.

 

Quarterly sales of Trulicity (Unit: KRW 100 million Data: IQVIA)

Then, the company started to have difficulties supplying the 1.5mg/0.5ml dosages as well.

 

Initially, Lilly estimated that it would be able to resume domestic supply in mid-October, but in mid-October, the company pushed back the estimate to November.

 

And this was only for the 1.5mg/0.5ml dose, with no exact timeline set still for the 0.75mg/0.5ml dosages.

 

The industry expectation is that if the disruption continues beyond Q4, Trulicity's sales will decline further.

 

Xultophy’s sales fall, Soliqua’s sales rise… Major insulin sales fluctuate due to shortages Sales of major insulin injections, which have been in short supply for most of the year, are also showing fluctuations in sales.

 

In Korea, Novo Nordisk’s Tresiba, Ryzodeg, Xultophy, Sanofi-Aventis’s Xultophy, Tuojeo, and Lilly’s Humalog have been experiencing shortages one after another since Q2 this year.

 

Sales of major products have fluctuated greatly in the process.

 

For example, Xultophy’s sales plummeted from KRW 4.8 billion in Q2 this year to KRW 3.1 billion in Q3.

 

In the case of Xultophy, its domestic supply began to be disrupted around August.

 

Novo Nordisk initially predicted that it would be able to resume supply in September, but pushed back its prediction to November.

 

On the other hand, Sanofi-Aventis' Soliqua saw a significant increase in sales in Q3.

 

The company reported sales of KRW 4 billion in Q3, up 63% from KRW 2.4 billion in Q3 last year.

 

Since Q2 2021, Soliqua has consistently generated sales of KRW 2 billion to 2.4 billion every quarter.

 

However, in Q3 this year, the company first marked sales of KRW 4 billion with Soliqua since its launch in Korea.

 

The industry analysis shows that the demand for Soliqua’s sales rose due to the unstable supply of other insulin products.

 

Quarterly sales of major insulin products (Unit: KRW 100 million, Data: IQVIA)

However, sales of products saw little change.

 

Novo Nordisk's Tresiba, Ryzodeg, and Lilly's Humalog have been experiencing sporadic shortages, but on the surface, their sales have remained stable.

 

Tresiba sold KRW 10.9 billion in Q3 this year, flat YoY.

 

Tresiba has been consistently generating sales in the high KRW 10 billion to low KRW 11 billion range since Q3 last year, after posting sales of KRW 10.9 billion.

 

In the case of Ryzodeg, the company recorded sales of KRW 8.8 billion in Q3 this year.

 

This is a 4% increase from KRW 8.4 billion in Q3 last year.

 

Humalog posted sales of KRW 5.2 billion in Q3.

 

This is a 4% decrease compared to the KRW 5.4 billion it posted in Q3 last year The industry analyzed that Tresiba, Ryzodeg’s sales remained level due to the spread of the stock shortage issue in the market, which led to an increase in temporary demand for stockpiling.