Sales of 26-year-old Gemzar·Zyprexa show rebound

Boryung’s acquisition strategy shows effect

Boryung acquires original drugs after patent expiry every year since 2020

Gemzar’s sales rise 33% after Boryung’s acquisition... Zyprexa’s sales also enjoy a rebound

The anticancer drug ‘Gemzar‘ and schizophrenia drug ‘Zyprexa' Boryung Pharmaceutical had acquired domestic sales and licensing lights of have enjoyed a rebound in sales.

 

Sales of both drugs had been on a downfall prior to Boryung’s acquisition.

 

Therefore, the analysis is that Boryung’s active portfolio expansion strategy and license acquisition activities have been effective.

 

◆Gemzar’s sales rise 33% after Boryung’s acquisition...plays a central role in Boryung’s oncology business According to the pharmaceutical market research institution IQVIA on the 25th, Gemzar raised KRW 19.1 billion in sales last year.

 

Gemzar is a first-generation cytotoxic agent that contains gemcitabine.

 

It was released in 1997.

 

Gemzar’s sales have been on a decline until 2020.

 

Its sales, which had reached KRW 14.5 billion in 2018, had fallen to KRW 14.3 billion by 2020.

 

However, sales started rising in earnest starting in 2021.

 

This is an unprecedentedly rare case for a drug that has been on the market for over 25 years.

 

Gemzar’s sales are analyzed to have made a solid rebound after Boryung’s acquisition of its domestic rights in Korea.

 

The company newly established the ONCO (Oncology) division in May 2020.

 

At the time, the company had acquired rights to Gemzar in Korea from Eli Lilly.

 

Quarterly sales of Gemzar (Unit: KRW 100 mil, Source: IQVIA)

Building on Gemzar, the company’s oncology business has made rapid growth.

 

Gemzar’s rising sales are analyzed to have driven sales growth of Boryung’s existing oncology drugs, including Campto, Oxalitin, Ditaxel1.

 

In fact, sales of the three drugs had risen 2-9% last year.

 

In the process, Boryung’s oncology business arose as the company's new growth engine.

 

In Q4 last year, Boryung’s oncology business raised sales of KRW 46.4 billion and exceeded the KRW 45 billion made by the company’s existing key hypertension and hyperlipidemia treatment business during the same period.

 

◆ Zyprexa’s sales show signs of rebound...”Aims to record KRW 50 billion in CNS sales by 2025” Zyprexa’s sales are also showing signs of a rebound since Boryung’s acquisition.

 

Last year, Zyprexa’s sales increased 2% from KRW 14.1 billion in 2021 to KRW 14.4 billion.

 

Zyprexa, the olanzapine-containing schizophrenia treatment market had been released in 1997.

 

Like Gemza, Zyprexa’s sales also was on a continuous decline until Boryung’s acquisition.

 

Its sales, which had been KRW 16.8 billion in 2018, had declined to KRW 14.1 billion in 2021.

 

Quarterly sales of Zyprexa (Unit: KRW 100 mil, Source: IQVIA)

However, its sales first made a rebound last year.

 

Boryung acquired all sales and licensing rights for Zyprexa in Korea from Lilly in October last year.

 

Afterward, its quarterly sales had first declined to KRW 3.3 billion in Q2 last year, then made a rebound to and raised to KRW 3.9 billion by Q4.

 

KRW 3.9 billion is the most quarterly sales the product has made since 2019 Q4.

 

With the acquisition, the company announced plans to reinforce its CNS (central nervous system) treatment portfolio around Zyprexa.

 

The company’s goal is to raise its CNS sales to ₩50 billion by 2025.

 

◆Will the company succeed in raising sales of Alimta as it had for Gemzar and Zyprexa?...

 

Interest rises on whether the company will acquire additional sales rights Currently, the industry's attention is focused on another product Boryung acquired in October last year, Alimta.

 

Boryung acquired the domestic rights for Alimta from Eli Lilly in October last year for KRW 100 billion (USD 70 million).

 

Three products Boryung acquired domestic rights for.

 

(from the left) Alimta, Gemzar, Zyprexa

Alimta is a treatment for non-small-cell lung cancer that was approved in 2005.

 

It is used as a chemotherapy for non-squamous NSCLC, and also used in combination with Keytruda.

 

It had raised sales of KRW 21 billion last year.

 

If the company succeeds in raising sales of Alimta as it had for Gemzar and Zyprexa, the company’s Legacy Brands Acquisition (LBA) strategy is expected to gain momentum.

 

LBA is the strategy of acquiring original drugs after patent expiry.

 

Boryung announced it plans to additionally introduce a product in Oncology and one other area this year, and another product in CNS by next year.

 

The industry has been predicting that the company’s plans may be to introduce products through the acquisition of domestic rights through LBA.