GC Pharma reinforces sales partnerships

to sell Shingrix, Plavix, etc.

Signs copromotion agreement to sell Shingrix, Baraclude, Plavix, etc. from the end of the previous year

Seeks to fill the gap in sales made after termination of the copromotion agreement for 3 MSD vaccines... works to diversify business structure and secure a cash cow

GC Pharma has been strengthening partnerships with pharmaceutical and biohealth companies in Korea and abroad by signing a series of copromotion agreements.

 

After the company signed a copromotion agreement for GSK’s shingles vaccine ‘Shingrix’ at the end of last year, the company recently also signed an agreement to copromote Sanofi's anti-platelet agent ‘Plavix.' Also, earlier this year, the company expanded its sales agreement with BMS on selling the company’s hepatitis B treatment, ‘Baraclude.’ The industry interpreted this as the company’s move to diversify its business structure, focusing on blood derivative products and vaccines and securing a cash cow through external expansion.

 

◆Will copromote Shingrix and Plavis...expanded sales agreement for Baraclude According to industry sources on the 11th, GC Pharma has been jointly selling Sanofi’s anti-platelet agent Plavix (clopidogrel) from the first of this month.

 

Under the copromotion agreement, GC Pharma is responsible for local sales, and Sanofi for sales at large hospitals.

 

Plavix has been generating KRW 120 billion in the outpatient prescription market in Korea.

 

According to the pharmaceutical market research institution UBIST, Plavix sold KW 117.6 billion last year, ranking fourth among all prescription drugs sold in Korea last year.

 

(From the left) Shingrix, Plavix, Baraclude

Also, the company had signed a copromotion agreement for GSK’s shingles vaccine Shingrix with GSK and Kwangdong Pharmaceutical and started joint sales of the drug in earnest in December last year.

 

Shingrix has been gaining attention as a new premium vaccine in its area.

 

It has shown a near 97% efficacy, twice higher than that of other existing shingles vaccines, and has demonstrated its long-term effect and safety.

 

It had already raised KRW 2.26 trillion in sales in the global market in the first half of last year, which is near the KRW 2.70 billion that the vaccine had made in the previous year.

 

Earlier this year, the company expanded its sales agreement for the hepatitis B treatment Baraclude with BMS.

 

The company, which had previously jointly sold the product with BMS in the past, will exclusively distribute and sell the drug from this year.

 

Therefore, the company will be selling the drug to all medical institutions including general hospitals in addition to local hospitals and clinics in Korea.

 

Baraclude is a hepatitis B treatment that contains entecavir.

 

The drug sold KRW 71 billion in prescriptions last year.

 

Although its generic version has been released in the market after patent expiry, the original drug continues to exert an overwhelming influence in the market.

 

Last year, it ranked second in sales in the market after Gilead Sciences Viread (KRW 89.5 billion).

 

◆Suceeds in joint sales of its self-developed Neulapeg·Shinbaro with domestic companies The company has also been strengthening partnerships with domestic pharmaceutical companies.

 

GC Pharma has been adopting the strategy of jointly selling its self-developed drugs with domestic pharmaceutical companies.

 

Neulapeg and Shinbaro are representative examples of such activity.

 

Neulapeg is a treatment for Neutropenia that had been self-developed by GC Pharma.

 

It is a biobetter product that is an upgraded version of the original drug, Kyowa Kirin’s Neulasta.

 

It has improved purity and stability compared to existing treatments and reduced the drug’s half-life over existing drugs.

 

GC Pharma has been jointly selling Neulapeg with Boryung Pharmacuetical until 2021, then with Jeil Pharmaceutical from last year.

 

Its sales had surged during its partnership with Boryung Pharmacuetical.

 

Its sales, which had been less than KRW 1 billion every quarter until 2018, surged to nearly KRW 6 billion in 2021 and exceeded that of the original version by Q4 2021.

 

◆ Strategies to fill the gap derived from non-sale of MSD vaccines + expanding business portfolio The domestic sales license transfer of the 3 MSD vaccines is pointed out as the background for GC Pharma’s recent moves.

 

Until 2020, GC Pharma had been copromoting 3 of MSD’s vaccines: the shingles vaccine Zostavax, and cervical cancer (HPV) vaccines Gardasil 4 and Gardasil 9.

 

Sales of the 3 vaccines reached KRW 106.1 billion in 2020.

 

However, MSD changed its domestic copromotion partner for the three vaccines to HK inno.N in 2020.

 

Since then, the company has been actively filling the gap that occured in its revenue by making new copromotion agreements.

 

In the mid-to-long term, this is also in line with GC Pharma’s recent business structure diversification strategy.

 

GC Pharma has recently been aggressively strengthening its prescription drug business.

 

It plans to expand its business portfolio, focusing on existing blood derivative products and vaccines.

 

Due to the heavily export-dependent nature of blood derivative products and vaccines, the disadvantage is that its sales are volatile depending on the overseas performance and period.

 

This is why the company has established a mid-to-long strategy to expand its field to prescription drugs and secure a new cash cow.