Q2 sales of Nexavar and Lenvima both sluggish

...pushed back by strong sales of immuno-oncology drugs

Nexavar’s Q2 sales fell 31% in one year... Lenvima’s sales drop 3%

Aftermath of Tecentriq’s entry... Nexavar’s generic Soranib’s sales also in decline

Picture of Nexavar, Lenvima

Sales of all major liver cancer treatments are on the decline.

 

Sales of Nexavar (sorafenib), which had dominated the first-line treatment market for liver cancer for over a decade, is on a continuous decline since the entry of its generics, and sales of Nexavar’s main competitor Lenvima have also been shown to be slowing down recently.

 

The industry expects the sales of Nexavar and Lenvima to fall further with the reimbursement applied to the Tecentriq+Avastin combination therapy as first-line treatment for liver cancer in Q2 this year.

 

◆Nexavar’s quarterly sales fall below ₩2 billion…affected by the entry of competitor drug and generics According to the market research institute IQVIA, Nexavar’s Q2 sales recorded ₩1.6 billion this year.

 

This is a 31% drop from the ₩2.3 billion it had recorded in Q2 last year.

 

Since its release in 2006 and reimbursement listing as a liver cancer treatment in 2008 in Korea, Nexavar had enjoyed its exclusive position in the market for nearly 10 years until the introduction of its competitor, Lenvima.

 

However, Nexavar’s sales started to decline after Lenvima started to slowly exert its influence in the market.

 

In terms of quarterly sales, Nexavar's sales had been on a steady decline since recording their peak at ₩7.1 billion in Q2 2018.

 

Quarterly sales of Nexavar·Lenvima·Soranib (Unit: KRW 100 million, Data: IQVIA)

In particular, sales had fallen to a greater extent with Hanmi Pharmaceutical’s release of its Nexavar generic Soranib in Q2 last year.

 

The government had reduced Nexavar’s ceiling price by 30% ex officio from ₩18,560 to ₩12,992 last February.

 

Due to this, Nexavar’s sales, which had recorded ₩5.2 billion in Q2 2020 dropped by over half, to ₩2.3 billion in just one year.

 

Afterward, Nexavar’s quarterly sales continued its decline, falling below ₩2 billion in Q2 this year.

 

◆ Lenvima’s sales on the decline since Q4 last year...

 

the aftermath of Tecentriq’s release Contrary to Nexavar’s sales, Lenvima’s sales continued to rise until Q4 last year.

 

Lenvima’s sales, which stood at ₩0.9 billion in Q4 2018, had risen fivefold in three years to record ₩4.4 billion in Q4 2021.

 

However, its sales have also been on the decline since Q4 last year.

 

Its sales fell to ₩4 billion in Q1 this year, then to ₩3.7 billion in Q2 this year.

 

Nexavar’s generic, Soranib, has also shown a similar trend.

 

After recording sales of ₩160 million in Q2 with its release, Soranib’s sales increased to ₩580 million in Q3.

 

However, its sales then fell to ₩450 million in Q4 last year, to ₩350 million in Q1 this year, then to ₩270 million in Q2 this year.

 

Experts have pointed to the entry of Tecentriq as the reason why sales of Nexavar and its competitors have all fallen together.

 

The indication of Roche’s immuno-oncology drug Tecentriq, in combination with Avastin, has been extended to first-line treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma in July 2020.

 

In addition, the indication received reimbursement approval as a first-line treatment for hepatocellular carcinoma in May this year.

 

In the industry, prospects that the sales of existing HCC treatments including Nexavar and Lenvima will continue to decline as the Tecentriq+Avastin combination demonstrated superior treatment effect over Nexavar.

 

Although the combination’s lack of a second-line option remains unattended, the prevailing opinion is that the Tecentiq combination therapy will replace Nexavar or Lenvima in the frontline setting.

 

At a clinical trial, the Tecentriq+Avastin combination had significantly improved overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) and had shown a twice higher response rate when compared with Nexavar.