Domestic DDP-4 inhibitors fare better amid sales decline

Total market size decreased by 4%...multinational vs domestic companies see opposite results

Prescriptions of Zemiglo and Suganon’s↑… Januvia and Trajenta↓

Prescription of DPP-4 inhibitors, which used to drive the diabetes treatment market, are on the decline.

 

In just a single year, the market size of DPP-4 inhibitors decreased 4%, and this is the third consecutive quarter the market saw a decline since Q4 last year.

 

Also, multinational companies and domestic companies have seen opposite results in the sales performance of their products.

 

While prescriptions of all DPP-4 inhibitors from multinational companies fell, most products from domestic companies continued to make growth.

 

◆Is the party over for DPP-4 inhibitors?...

 

market decreased 4% in one year According to the pharmaceutical market research institution UBIST on the 27th, the diabetes drug market size for DPP-4 inhibitors was 141.6 billion won in Q2 this year.

 

This was a 4% decline compared to the 148.2 billion won recorded in Q2 last year.

 

Quarterly records show that the market has seen a steady decline since the Q3 last year.

 

After first being formed in 2008 with the introduction of MSD’s ‘Januvia (sitagliptin),’ the market saw repeated growth with the release of latecomer drugs and became 'the most frequently prescribed diabetes drug.’ In Q1 2016, the market made the first quarterly sales that exceed 100 billion won.

 

The market peaked in Q3 last year and made 156 billion won.

 

However, since then, the market saw 3 consecutive quarters of decline, from 156 billion won.

 

(4Q 2020) to 146.4 billion won (Q1 2021), to 141.6 billion won (Q2 2021).

 

If this trend persists, the overall market size of antidiabetics is expected to fall below 600 billion won by the end of this year.

 

◆Market No.1 and 2 – ‘Januvia’ and ‘Trajenta’ both decline 8% Multinational pharmaceutical companies and domestic companies have seen opposite results in the prescriptions of their products.

 

While prescriptions of products from multinational companies all declined, most products developed or introduced by domestic companies saw a growth in sales.

 

The market’s leading product, MSD’s Januvia series saw an overall decline of 8% from the 43.4 billion won in Q2 last year to 40.1 billion won in Q2 this year.

 

The sales drop was more vivid in its single-agent product.

 

Januvia’s sales fell 11%, while sales of the combination drugs Janumet and Janumet XR decreased 8% and 3%, respectively.

 

The same went for the market’s runner-up product ‘Trajenta (linagliptin).’ Its sales dropped 8% from 31.9 billion won to 29.3 billion won in the same period.

 

Both the single-agent and combination drugs Trajenta and Trajenta Duo saw an 8% drop in sales.

 

Sales of Novartis’ ‘Galvus (vildagliptin)’ series dropped 7% from 10.9 billion won to mark 10.7 billion won.

 

Sales of Takeda Pharmaceutical's ‘Nesina (alogliptin)’ series fell 11% from 7.9 billion won to 7.1 billion won.

 

Also, sales of AstraZeneca’s Onglyza (saxagliptin) series also fell 7% from 6.8 billion won to 6.3 billion won.

 

◆'Zemiglo' fares better…The latest latecomer DPP-4 inhibitor ‘Suganon’ shows rapid growth On the other hand, domestic DPP-4 inhibitor products performed well despite the overall market downtrend.

 

Sales of LG Chem's 'Zemiglo (ingredient name: gemigliptin)' series, which had ranked third in the market, increased by 2% from 28.4 billion won to 29.1 billion won in a single year.

 

Despite the 3% sales decline of the single-agent Zemiglo (8.8 billion won → 8.6 billion won), the overall prescriptions performance of the series increased with the 5% increase (19.4 billion won → 20.4 billion won) in sales of the combination drug Zemimet.

 

However, it is evaluated that the overall growth drive has somewhat weakened compared to the past.

 

LG Chem’s Zemiglo, Handok’s Tenelia, Dong-A ST’s Suganon, JW Pharm’s Guardlet (clockwise from the left upper corner).

 

Zemiglo and Suganon and self-developed new durgs, Tenelia and Guardlet were introduced to Korea

Sales of Handok’s ‘Tenelia (teneligliptin)’ increased 4% from 10.3 billion won to 10.7 billion won in the same period.

 

Sales of the single-agent drug Tenelia grew 4%, and the combination drug Tenelia M grew 5%, respectively.

 

Tenelia is a diabetes drug from Japan’s Mitsubishi Tanabe that Handok introduced to Korea.

 

Using Tenlia, Handok had self-developed the combination drug Tenlia M by adding metformin.

 

Currently, the combination drug is prescribed more than the single-agent drug.

 

Dong-A ST’s self-developed new drug ‘Suganon (evogliptin)’ series has been showing the most rapid growth among all drugs recently.

 

Its prescriptions only amounted to 5.7 billion won in Q2 last year, however, this increased 31% to mark 7.4 billion won in just one year.

 

The Suganon series, which was introduced in Q2 2016, was the last to enter the DPP-4 inhibitor market.

 

At that time, its prescriptions amounted to only 0.6 billion won.

 

However, this had increased over tenfold in just 5 years.

 

The ‘Guardlet (anagliptin)’ series that JW Pharmaceutical introduced from Sanwa Kagaku Kenkyusho, was the only product to see a decline in prescriptions among all domestic products.

 

Its prescriptions, which amounted to 2.9 billion won in Q2 last year, decreased to 1.5 billion won.

 

This decline was influenced by impurities detected in some of the metformin products.

 

JW Pharmaceutical's Guardmet’s sales were suspended due to the detection of impurities.

 

Without Gaurdmet, which accounted for over half of the sales in the Guardlet series, prescriptions of the whole family also decreased to around half of what it was before.

 

However, prescription for the single-agent drug Guardlet itself had increased 7% from 1.4 billion won to 1.5 billion won in one year.