K-similars compete for Canada's ₩31 tril market

the land of opportunity

Canada actively implements policies on biosimilars to reduce prescription drug expenditures

Shares of biosimilars rise to 65% in the Province of British Columbia afterward

6 items from Samsung Bioepis and 4 from Celltrion approved... one-fifth of all similar in Canada are Korean

Biosimilars manufactured by domestic bio companies are targeting Canada, the world's 10th largest pharmaceutical market With an increasing number of provinces in Canada actively implementing policies to mandate the use of biosimilars, usage of biosimilars in the country, which had been in the 10% range, is expected to increase significantly.

 

According to industry sources on the 25th, Samsung Bioepis launched its oncology drug ‘Avastin’ biosimilar ‘Aybintio’ through its partner company Organon.

 

Aybintio is a VEGF inhibitor prescribed for metastatic colorectal cancer, metastatic or recurrent non-small-cell lung cancer, platinum-sensitive recurrent ovarian cancer, etc.

 

With the approval, a total of 5 Samsung Bioepis biosimilar products have been released in Canada as of this month.

 

When including the 4 Celltrion biosimilars, a total of 9 biosimilars from Korea are now in the Canadian market.

 

Starting with its Enbrel biosimilar ‘Brenzys’ in 2016, Samsung Bioepis received approval for 6 biosimilars including its Remicade biosimilar ‘Renflxis’ in 2017, Humira biosimilar ‘Hadlima’ in 2018, Avastin biosimilar ‘Aybintio’ in 2021, Herceptin biosimilar ‘Ontruzant’ and Lucentis biosimilar ‘Byooviz’ in 2022.

 

Among the products, Byooviz has not been released to the market yet due to patent issues.

 

In the case of Celltrion, it received approval and has marketed 4 biosimilars including its Remicade biosimilar ‘Remsima,' Rituxan biosimilar ‘Truxima,’ and Herceptin biosimilar ‘Herzuma’ in 2014, and Humira biosimilar ‘Yuflyma’ in 2021.

 

Among the 50 biosimilar products approved by the health authorities in Canada, 10 are Korean products.

 

◆Canada ranks 10th in the global market...receives attention for its policy pro-biosimilar policy The Canadian pharmaceutical market is worth UDS 23.8 billion (KRW 31.58 trillion) based on IQVIA in 2020, and is the 10th largest market in the world.

 

The country has been pointed to as the ‘land of opportunity' by domestic biopharmaceutical companies with the government’s recent implementation of biosimilar-friendly policies in provinces to reduce the cost of prescription drugs.

 

The Province of British Columbia after implemented a policy three years ago that only allows the use of biosimilars for certain diseases, with exceptions, to raise the usage of biosimilars that remained at the 8% level at the time.

 

British Columbia has mandated that prescriptions be switched to biosimilars, except in exceptional cases for indications for autoimmune diseases such as plaque psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, and Crohn's disease.

 

Some provinces in Canada have a policy that mandates the use of biosimilars instead of originals for certain diseases.

 

(Source: Northwest Territories website)

The unconventional policy significantly increased the use of biosimilars in the province.

 

As of the end of last year, the share of biosimilars in the private biopharmaceutical market, which had been 12% in other provinces, had reached 65% in the Province of British Columbia.

 

From December last year to this year, other provinces including Alberta, New Brunswick, Quebec, Nova Scotia, Northwest Territory, and Saskatchewan also adopted policies to encourage the use of biosimilars, therefore, the biosimilar market is expected to grow further.

 

The number of biosimilar approvals has also increased.

 

Since approving 9 biosimilars last year, Health Canada additionally approved 7 products by November this year.

 

In total, 50 biosimilars have now been approved in Canada so far, which is more than the 39 approved in the US.

 

The Canadian government projects that it will be able to save about KRW 1 trillion (USD 768.7 million) a year with the implementation of the pro-biosimilar policy.

 

An official from Samsung Bioepis said, “We have established a diverse product portfolio in Canada, the world's 10th largest pharmaceutical market, and plan to work more closely with our partners to expand their sales in the North American market."