COVID-19 vaccinations freeze up the premium vaccine market

Shingles vaccine market reduced 47% YoY… Pneumococcal vaccine market reduced 70% YoY

Affected by the prioritization given to COVID-19 vaccinations

But market for cervical cancer vaccines show growth

The premium vaccine market that consists of vaccines used to prevent diseases like shingles, pneumococcal vaccines, etc has contracted greatly.

 

Analysts believe that the demand for other vaccines had decreased due to medical institutions prioritizing COVID-19 vaccinations.

 

However, the cervical cancer vaccine market continued to show growth due to the increase in demand for Gardasil 9.

 

On the 1st, according to the medical research institution IQVIA, the shingles vaccine market size in Q3 was ₩8.9 billion, down 56.1% from the same period of last year.

 

The cumulative sales by Q3 in the market was ₩29 billion, also a 47.3% drop from last year.

 

Currently, two products - MSD's ‘Zostavax’ and SK Bioscience's ‘Skyzoster’ – are competing in the domestic shingles vaccine market.

 

Since Skyzoster broke the monopoly of Zostavax and entered the market at the end of 2017, the market had recorded rapid growth.

 

The market size had increased to record ₩27.9 billion by Q4 in 2019.

 

Quarterly sales of shingles vaccines (Unit: ₩1 million, Source:IQVIA)

However, the market had fluctuated after the full outbreak of COVID-19.

 

In Q1 last year, the shingles vaccine market decreased by 37.8% and recorded ₩12.2 billion.

 

The market size had contracted with patients avoiding visits to medical institutions earlier on during the outbreak.

 

Although the market showed recovery, increasing to ₩22.6 billion in Q2, ₩20.3 billion in Q2, then ₩17.3 in Q4, sales have once again made a downward turn entering this year.

 

Sales in Q3 had fallen 68.1% compared to two years ago, in Q4 2019.

 

Sales of Zostavax and Skyzoster have fallen together.

 

Zostavax sold ₩5.7 billion in Q3, a 53% drop YoY.

 

In the same period, Skyzoster sold ₩3.2 billion and dropped by 60.7%.

 

compared to Q4 2019, when the two vaccines peaked in their sales, Zostavax and Skyzoster’s sales both fell by 66.2% and 70.9%, respectively.

 

The sluggish performance of the shingles vaccine market is analyzed to be an effect of the increased COVID-19 vaccinations.

 

That the medical institutions’ tendency to administer COVID-19 vaccines first had resulted in a relative neglection of other vaccine products, is most convincing.

 

The pneumococcal vaccine ‘Prevenar 13’ that had temporarily enjoyed an upsurge in sales with COVID-19 is also seeing prolonged sluggish sales.

 

Prevenar 13 sold ₩7.4 billion in Q3, which was a 69.6% decrease from the same period of last year.

 

Its cumulative sales by Q3 were ₩24.9 billion, which was also an immense 58.5% drop from the previous year.

 

Quarterly sales of Prevenar 13 (Unit: ₩1 million, Source:IQVIA)

‘Prevenar 13’ is a PCV13 that prevents infection from 13 Streptococcus pneumoniae serotypes (3, 4, 5, 6A, 6B, 7F, 9V, 14, 18C, 19A, 19F, 23F).

 

It may be administered to all those aged 6 weeks or older.

 

Prevenar 13 for adults is being distributed in Korea by Chong Kun Dang, and for infants by Korea Vaccine.

 

Prevenar 13’s performance this year is in stark contrast to the sharp rise in sales it made last year with the COVID-19 outbreak.

 

Its sales in Q1 last year was ₩17.6 billion, a 52.2% increase from the previous year, which rose to ₩24.2 billion by Q3 last year.

 

Prevenar13 sold ₩81.2 billion last year and made a 64.8% YoY increase.

 

Demand for Prevenar 13 among adults had surged temporarily earlier in the COVID-19 outbreak with the expectation that while Prevenar13 cannot prevent COVID-19, it can weaken the pneumonia symptoms from COVID-19.

 

However, its sales had greatly dropped entering this year.

 

Sales of the vaccine in Q1 was ₩9.4 billion, a 55.5% decrease from the previous quarter, and continued to drop in the following quarters.

 

Prevenar13’s sales dropped 32.8% compared to the pre-COVID-19 period 2 years ago.

 

In other words, the vaccine, which enjoyed reflective benefits in the early phases of the COVID-19 pandemic, has been on the contrary, been negatively affected by COVID-19 and the increase of its vaccinations this year.

 

Among the various products in the premium vaccine market, the cervical cancer vaccines market solely showed growth.

 

In Q3, the cervical cancer vaccine market increased 22.7% from the previous year and recorded ₩21.9 billion.

 

Cumulative sales by Q3 was ₩66.9 billion, increasing 42.3% from the previous year.

 

Three products – MSD’s ‘Gardasil,’ ‘Gardasil 9,’ and GSK’s ‘Cervarix’ – are competing in the domestic cervical cancer vaccine market.

 

The rapid rise of the relatively expensive Gardasil 9 is analyzed to have driven the growth of the market’s size.

 

Quarterly sales of cervical cancer vaccines (Unit: ₩1 million, Source:IQVIA)

Gardasil sold ₩5.4 billion in Q3, which was only a 3.9% increase from the previous year.

 

However, Gardasil 9’s sales rose 37.2% in the same period, recording ₩16.1 billion.

 

Cumulative sales of Gardasil 9 by Q3 was ₩50.8 billion, a 72.6% increase from the previous year.

 

Cervarix’s sales in Q3 were only in the ₩0.3 billion range.

 

Gardasil 9 is a vaccine is an HPV vaccine product that contains 5 additional serotypes (31, 33, 45, 52, 58) to the 4 serotypes (6·11·16·18) contained in Gardasil.

 

It is being distributed at a higher price Among cervical cancer vaccines, it is being distributed at a high price with the distinction that it contains the most HPV types.

 

Based on Q3 numbers, Gardasil 9's accounts for 73.6% of the cervical cancer vaccine market.

 

Unlike Gardasil and Cervarix, Gardasil 9 is not part of the National Immunization Program in Korea.

 

However, its effect in preventing other HPV-related diseases such as anal cancer, genital warts, and precancerous lesions in addition to cervical cancer has spread by word of mouth, increasing the annual number of male vaccinations.

 

The age for its vaccination had also been extended to cover up to 45 years of age, increasing the rate of adult revaccinations.