Daiichi Sankyo exceeds ₩300B in sales…new drug drives

growth

Recorded KRW 309.8 billion in sales last year…13% ↑from the previous year

Lixiana robust growth·Enhertu steady sales…focuses on ADC R&D

Daiichi Sankyo Korea has exceeded KRW 300 billion in sales for the first time, led by its cardiovascular products, Antibody-Drug Conjugate (ADC), and new anticancer drugs.

 

The company is successfully transitioning its portfolio towards new ADC drugs while maintaining robust growth from established cardiovascular products like Sevikar, Lixiana, and Olmetec.

 

According to the Korea Financial Supervisory Service (FSS)'s electronic disclosure system on June 16, Daiichi Sankyo Korea's sales last year reached KRW 309.8 billion, a 13% increase from the previous year.

 

During the same period, operating profit decreased by 9%, from KRW 26.6 billion to KRW 24.2 billion.

 

Daiichi Sankyo Korea considers its sales for 2024 based on the Japanese fiscal year, covering April of last year to March of this year.

 

Daiichi Sankyo Korea

Daiichi Sankyo Korea's sales have been steadily increasing since 2020.

 

The company first surpassed KRW 200 billion in revenue in 2020 with KRW 217.9 billion, followed by a continuous upward trend, reaching KRW 245.4 billion in 2021, KRW 253.2 billion in 2022, and KRW 274.0 billion in 2023.

 

Notably, an analysis suggests that collaboration with the domestic pharmaceutical company Daewoong Pharmaceutical on some cardiovascular products, such as Lixiana and Sevikar, has created a synergistic effect.

 

Daiichi Sankyo Korea signed co-promotion agreements for Sevikar in 2013 and Lixiana in 2015 with Daewoong Pharmaceutical, and this partnership continues to date.

 

Among them, the highest revenue generator is the Direct Oral Anticoagulant (DOAC), Lixiana.

 

According to market research firm UBIST, Lixiana's prescription sales last year was KRW 117.5 billion, a 12% increase compared to KRW 105.3 billion in 2023.

 

DOACs are anticoagulants that prevent blood clots by directly acting on blood coagulation factors.

 

They are increasingly being used in clinical settings as they replace warfarin, which inhibits Vitamin K metabolism.

 

In Korea, Xarelto was approved in 2009, followed by Pradaxa and Eliquis in 2011, and Lixiana in 2015.

 

Despite being the last to be launched among DOACs, Lixiana has rapidly increased its prescription performance, backed by demonstrated clinical data, and has maintained its market dominance since 2019.

 

With annual growth of around 10%, its prescription performance nearly doubled in five years, from KRW 60.4 billion in 2019.

 

Its market share in the overall DOAC market also expanded from 33% in 2019 to 45% last year.

 

Sevikar, an olmesartan-based combination therapy for hypertension, continues to maintain its strong performance in prescription revenue.

 

Sevikar's prescription revenue last year was KRW 68.8 billion, a 4% increase from the previous year.

 

Despite numerous global and domestic pharmaceutical companies entering this market, Sevikar's prescription sales continue to grow.

 

Sevikar's prescription revenue, which was KRW 53.4 billion in 2019, surpassed KRW 60 billion in 2022.

 

In 2023, it recorded KRW 65.9 billion, demonstrating five consecutive years of increased prescription sales.

 

The triple combination hypertension drug Sevikar HCT also maintained its growth trajectory.

 

Sevikar HCT's prescription sales for the last year totaled KRW 42.1 billion, representing a 4% increase from the previous year.

 

Daiichi Sankyo Korea generated approximately KRW 140 billion in prescription sales solely from olmesartan-based hypertension treatments, including Sevikar HCT (KRW 42.1 billion), Olmetec (KRW 30.6 billion), and Sevikar (KRW 68.8 billion).

 

The 5 ADC Strategy...Will it achieve R&D success after Enhertu? Daiichi Sankyo Korea is working towards transitioning from a cardiovascular-focused company to a leader in oncology.

 

The company is particularly concentrating its R&D capabilities on the ADC field, focusing on new growth engines.

 

Following the already approved Enhertu, it is pursuing a '5 ADC strategy' and preparing for the launch of various other therapeutic agents, including Datroway, patritumab deruxtecan, DS-7300, DS-700, and DS-6000.

 

An ADC is a new anticancer drug designed by linking an antibody that binds to a specific target antigen on the surface of cancer cells with a drug that has cell-killing capabilities using a linker.

 

The advantage of ADCs is their ability to selectively target cancer cells by utilizing the antibody's target specificity and the drug's cytotoxic activity, thereby maximizing therapeutic efficacy while minimizing side effects.

 

ADC anticancer agent

While first-generation ADCs, such as Roche's Kadcyla, were initially limited to breast cancer indications, second-generation ADCs are successfully securing various other indications.

 

Among these, Enhertu is a second-generation new ADC drug introduced by Daiichi Sankyo Korea.

 

Enhertu is a next-generation ADC that links a monoclonal antibody with the same structure as trastuzumab (which binds to specific target receptors overexpressed on the surfaces of cancer cells) and a highly potent, novel topoisomerase I inhibitor payload via a tumor-selective, cleavable linker.

 

Currently, Enhertu won domestic approval for HER2-positive breast cancer, gastric cancer, and non-small cell lung cancer, and is primarily used as a second-line treatment.

 

Its potential as a first-line treatment for breast cancer is also currently being investigated.

 

Daiichi Sankyo is also preparing to launch its second new ADC drug, Datroway.

 

This ADC targets the Trop-2 protein and has been approved in the U.S.

 

for the treatment of breast cancer.

 

The Trop-2 protein is a cell membrane antigen overexpressed in breast cancer, particularly in over 90% of triple-negative breast cancer cases.

 

Datroway binds to the Trop-2 protein and delivers cytotoxic substances into the cancer cells.

 

It has the advantage of maximizing the benefits of targeted therapy and cytotoxic chemotherapy while minimizing damage to healthy cells.

 

Currently, Daiichi Sankyo is co-developing and co-marketing Enhertu and Datroway with AstraZeneca.

 

Daiichi Sankyo is also developing an ADC with Merck.

 

patritumab deruxtecan, which targets HER3, showed efficacy in EGFR-mutated patients compared to platinum-based chemotherapy in the Phase 2 HERTHENA-Lung01 study.

 

Daiichi Sankyo continues to conduct research for subsequent ADC candidates after Enhertu, which targets the HER2 biomarker.

 

The company is also jointly conducting clinical studies with Merck on DS-7300, which targets B7-H3 (an emerging new biomarker in solid tumors), and DS-6000, a CDH6-targeting ADC.