Yungjin, Ildong’s Ofev generics enter market at half price

Competition starts 2 months into reimbursement listing

Original is a capsule, and the generic version is a tablet formulation

A generic version of Ofev (nintedanib), a treatment for chronic fibrotic interstitial lung disease), will enter the market at half the price of the original drug.

 

With the entry of generic drugs, the Ofev market now faces competition, just two months after the original drug was listed for reimbursement.

 

According to industry sources on the 25th, Yungjin and Ildong Pharmacuetical will list the generic version of Ofev with reimbursement at a price much lower than the calculated price, differentiating it from the original product.

 

Also, the original product is a capsule formulation, while the generic version is a tablet formulation.

 

When reimbursement was approved in May, the maximum insurance price for Boehringer Ingelheim Korea's Ofev Soft Capsules 100 mg was set at KRW 29,600, and Ofev Soft Capsules 150 mg at KRW 26,220.

 

The generic versions are much cheaper than this.

 

Three generic drugs will be listed for reimbursement next month: Yungjin Pharmaceutical's Nintebro Tab 150 mg and Nintebro 100 Tab mg, and Ildong Pharmaceutical's Cuninta Tab 150 mg.

 

Among them, Nintebro 100 mg has a maximum price of KRW 9,000, less than half the original Ofev Soft Capsule 100 mg (KRW 20,960).

 

Nintebro 150 mg is KRW 15,000, and Cuninta 150mg is KRW 13,500.

 

When considering how Ofev Soft Cap 150mg costs KRW 26,220, the generic versions cost half the original price.

 

Being rare disease treatments, the generic versions were eligible to receive the same price as the original Ofev, but it is believed that the companies significantly lowered the price in consideration of market competitiveness.

 

As a result, patients will now be able to purchase the same ingredient drug at a lower price.

 

In May, after nine years since being approved in Korea, Ofev was listed for reimbursement as a treatment for chronic fibrotic interstitial lung disease.

 

Due to the delay in reimbursement listing, the substance patent expired on January 25.

 

This is how generic versions were able to enter only 2 months after the original drug was listed for reimbursement.

 

Meanwhile, Yungjin and Ildong, which are launching the generic versions, are competing fiercely in the pirfenidone market, a representative treatment for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, which is another indication for Ofev.