Keytruda has booked high sales in the domestic market

for 3 consecutive yrs

Keytruda leads 11 consecutive quarters

Gardasil 9, cumulative Q3 sales ↑68% year-on-year

Keytruda, an immuno-cancer drug, has reserved a leading position in the domestic pharmaceutical market for 3 consecutive years.

 

New drug products recently released by multinational pharmaceutical companies such as Gardasil 9 and Dupixent continued to be high.

 

According to IQVIA, a pharmaceutical research firm, MSD Keytruda posted 161.6 billion won in sales in the first three quarters of this year, the largest among all medicines.

 

Compared to the same period last year, it increased by 11.1%, firmly maintaining its leading position.

 

Keytruda's sales in the first quarter were 40.4 billion won, down 8.4% from the previous year.

 

At that time, the decline in sales was blamed for the drug price cut.

 

Keytruda's insurance upper limit was lowered by 25.6% in March as the scope of health insurance benefits was expanded to primary treatment for non-small cell lung cancer.

 

However, Keytruda recovered its upward trend from the second quarter.

 

Sales in the second quarter rose 9.7% year-on-year to 53.9 billion won, and sales in the third quarter rose 28.8% to 67.2 billion won.

 

It is analyzed that Keytruda's primary treatment benefit application effect occurred in earnest.

 

In the case of sales in the third quarter, considering the drug price cut rate, it is calculated that usage increased by more than 60% compared to the same period last year.

 

Keytruda, released in Korea in 2015, is an immune checkpoint inhibitor that treats cancer by inhibiting PD-1 protein on the surface of immune cell T cells to prevent binding to PD-L1 receptors and activate immune cells.

 

In Korea, 21 indications were granted in 16 carcinomas, including melanoma, lung cancer, and head and neck cancer.

 

Currently, the cancers that can use Keytruda have reached ▲ lung cancer, ▲ head and neck cancer, ▲ Hodgkin lymphoma, ▲ urinary epithelial cancer (Bladder cancer), ▲ esophageal cancer, ▲ melanoma, ▲ renal cell cancer, ▲ endometrial cancer, ▲ gastric cancer, ▲ small intestine cancer, ▲ pancreatic cancer, ▲ biliary cancer, ▲ cervical cancer 16, ▲ cervical cancer.

 

It can be used in the largest number of cancer types among immuno-cancer drugs licensed in Korea.

 

Keytruda's sales began to rise rapidly after insurance benefits were applied as a secondary treatment for non-small cell lung cancer in August 2017.

 

Sales exceeded 10 billion won in the first quarter of 2018 and 30 billion won in the second quarter of 2019.

 

In the first quarter of 2020, Lippito was brought down to the second place and ranked first overall, and since then, he has maintained the lead for 11 consecutive quarters.

 

New drug products recently released by multinational pharmaceutical companies were strong at the top of drug sales.

 

MSD's cervical cancer vaccine Gardasil 9 ranked third overall, with cumulative sales of 85.3 billion won in the third quarter, up 68.0% from the same period last year.

 

Gardasil 9 saw its sales rise 39.2% year-on-year to 24.3 billion won in the first quarter, while sales in the second and third quarters grew 98.9% and 66.1% year-on-year, respectively.

 

Gardasil 9 is an HPV (human papillomavirus) vaccine product that adds five serum types (31, 33, 45, 52, 58) to four serum types (6, 11, 16, and 18 types) owned by Gardasil.

 

It includes most HPV types of cervical cancer vaccines.

 

In addition to cervical cancer, the number of male vaccinations is also increasing every year due to word of mouth that Gardasil 9 can prevent HPV-related diseases such as anal cancer, reproductive demons, and precancerous lesions.

 

Since July 2020, the recommended age for vaccination has expanded from 9 to 26 years old women to 27 to 45 years old women, and the rate of re-vaccination of adults who have previously been vaccinated against cervical cancer has also increased significantly.

 

Sanofi's atopic dermatitis treatment Dupixent recorded 75.9 billion won in cumulative sales until the third quarter, up 45.2% from the previous year.

 

Sales in the first and second quarters increased 77.0% and 47.6% year-on-year, respectively, while sales in the third quarter increased 23.8% from the previous year.

 

Dupixent is the first targeted biological drug developed for the treatment of moderate to severe atopic dermatitis, where topical treatments are not recommended or symptoms are not properly controlled.

 

It acts as a mechanism that selectively suppresses the signal transmission of interleukin-4 and interleukin-13, which are known to be the causes of atopic dermatitis.

 

Dupixent, which received domestic permission in March 2018, has seen its sales expand rapidly since January 2020 when it was covered by salaries for severe atopic dermatitis.

 

Dupixent's sales were only 3.3 billion won in the first quarter of 2020, but quadrupled to 13.5 billion won in the first quarter of last year.

 

It has recorded sales of 20 billion won since the third quarter of last year.

 

Ono's immuno-cancer drug Opdivo's cumulative sales in the third quarter were 79.8 billion won, up 32.6% from the previous year.

 

Opdivo, which was licensed in 2015, began to see a significant increase in sales after it was listed as an insurance benefit in 2017.

 

Opdivo surpassed 10 billion won in quarterly sales for the first time in the first quarter of 2018 and has recorded sales of 20 billion won since the third quarter of last year.

 

Amgen's Prolia ranked fourth overall, with sales rising 28.6% from the previous year to 83.8 billion won in the first and third quarters.

 

Released in Korea in November 2016, Prolia is a biomedical osteoporosis treatment that targets the protein RANKL, which is essential for the formation, activation, and survival of bone-destroying osteoporosis.

 

Prolia began to see an upward trend in sales after salaries were applied only to secondary treatment therapy in 2017.

 

Since April 2019, Prolia's sales have exploded as insurance benefits have been recognized in primary treatment.

 

Among the new drugs developed by Korean companies, HK inno.N's anti-ulcer drug K-CAB ranked seventh overall with sales of 77.9 billion won in the third quarter, up 20.1% from the previous year.

 

K-CAB, released in March 2019, is a new mechanism of action that inhibits gastric acid secretion by competitively combining proton pumps and potassium ions located in the final stage of acid secretion.