Generic drugs occupy 41% of antidiabetics market in 9 mths

...shakes up the DPP-4 inhibitor market

Prescription amount of Galvus generics recored KRW 14.5 billion last year... share rises to 41% of the market

Tenelia generic’s share increases to 32% in only 2 months of launch...expected to bring full-scale competition in the market

Generic products of off-patent drugs are quickly increasing their influence In the DPP-4 inhibitor class antidiabetic drug market.

 

The market share held by generic versions of the original Galvus (vildagliptin) that were launched after the patent expiry of the original drug in March last year increased to 41% at the end of last year.

 

The market share held by generic versions of Tenelia (teneligliptin), which 37 companies jumped in to manufacture, increased to 32% only two months after its release.

 

◆Market share of Galvus generics increase to 41%...Kyongbo and Hanmi shows greatest advances According to the market research institution UBIST on the 19th, the total outpatient prescriptions for antidiabetic drugs that contain vildagliptin amounted to KRW 46.9 billion last year.

 

Compared to the KRW 46.6 billion made in 2021, the market size itself remained largely unchanged from the previous year.

 

However, when dividing the drugs into original vs.

 

generic drugs, the prescription amount of the originals - Galuvs and Galvusmet - fell 30% in one year and was replaced by generic products.

 

The combined prescription amount of Galuvs and Galvusmet fell 30% last year to record KRW 32.4 billion from the KRW 46.6 billion it had recorded in 2021.

 

When considering how the drug price was reduced by 29.9% with the release of the generic, the prescription volume itself is expected to have remained similar to the previous year.

 

In the market, generic drugs recorded combined prescriptions of KRW 14.5 billion last year.

 

Galvus generics have been continuously increasing its influence in the market ever since its launch in January last year.

 

Since recording KRW 1.1 billion in Q1 last year, sales increased to KRW 3.4 billion in Q2 last year, then to KRW 4.8 billion in Q3 last year, and KRW 5.2 billion in Q4 last year.

 

In the vildagliptin-containing antidiabetics market, the share held by generics increased to 41% as of December last year.

 

The market share of generic drugs increased rapidly until September last year, then remained in the early 40% range ever since.

 

Last year, 15 domestic companies released Galvus generics.

 

Among the generic companies, Kyongbo Pharmaceutical and Hanmi Pharmaceutical recorded the highest prescription performance.

 

The combined prescription amount of the two products amounts to KRW 6.3 billion.

 

The amount was followed by Hanmi Pharmaceuticals’ Vildagle and Vildaglemet which made KRW 3.9 billion, then by Angook Pharmaceutical’s Avus and Avusmet which made KRW 2.6 billion.

 

The other generic companies made annual outpatient prescriptions that amounted to less than KRW 1 billion each.

 

◆ Tenelia generics’ market share surged to 32% only 2 months after release Tenelia generics are also rapidly increasing their influence in the market 37 domestic companies released Tenelia generics after its patent expired on October 25 last year.

 

Since then, the companies recorded KRW 2.9 billion in prescriptions in two months.

 

As of last year, the share of teneligliptin-containing drugs in the diabetes treatment market expanded to 32% as of December last year.

 

However, the increased prescriptions for generics did not lead to a decrease in prescriptions for the original products.

 

Rather, the prescription amount of Handok’s Tenelia and Tenelia M, the original products, increased slightly from KRW 47.7 billion in 2021 to KRW 48 billion last year.

 

This is because the drug price of the original product has not been lowered despite the generic’s release.

 

The generic companies developed products using salts that are different from the original, which allowed the original drug to maintain its previous price.

 

No single product recorded remarkable performance among Tenelia generics.

 

All 37 companies are recording prescriptions ranging around KRW 100 million.

 

A pharmaceutical industry official said, “Fierce sales competition is ongoing between generic companies to secure a market share in the earlier stages of the generic release.

 

We expect this competition to continue until the patent for another DPP-4 inhibitor, Januvia, expires in September this year."