Saxenda easily leads obesity market with KRW 32 bln by 3Q

3Q obesity treatment market generates KRW 35.4 billion, up by 70% in 2 years

Saxenda makes KRW 11.9 billion in 3Q, market share by 34%

Novo Nordisk’s Saxenda reaffirmed its unmatched leadership in obesity treatment market.

 

Up to the third quarter this year, the treatment’s accumulated sales surpassed 30 billion won.

 

And also Saxenda’s market share is stabilizing at over 30 percent.

 

According to a pharmaceutical industry research firm IQVIA on Nov.

 

26, the overall obesity treatment market volume in the third quarter reached 35.4 billion won, about 45.4 percent increase from last year same time.

 

In last two years, the obesity treatment market volume soared by 70 percent from 20.7 billion in the fourth quarter of 2017.

 

Quarterly market volume trend in obesity treatment (Unit: KRW 100 million) Source: IQVIA

Since its launch in Korean market, Saxenda has dominated the market and also seems to have elevated the overall market volume.

 

In the third quarter, Saxenda made 11.9 billion won, a sevenfold growth from third quarter last year.

 

Saxenda’s sales was more than a fivefold of Dietamins’, coming in second in the market.

 

Saxenda generated accumulated sales amount of 32 billion won until the third quarter.

 

Released in Korean market last year, Saxenda was the world’s first obesity treatment approved as a glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) analogue.

 

The GLP-1 hormone is secreted by food intake and reaches activated neurons in brain to regulate appetite.

 

Saxenda has a similar mechanism with the native GLP-1, and induces weight loss by suppressing appetite and food intake.

 

Even before reaching the one year point, Saxenda generated 5.6 billion won in the fourth quarter last year and placed itself on the top of the market.

 

The treatment has made at least 10 billion won each quarter this year.

 

Saxenda and a diabetic treatment Victoza share the same active ingredient, liraglutide, but have different regimen and dosage.

 

As Saxenda verified long-term use safety with Victoza and demonstrates similar mechanism as native hormone GLP-1, consumer’s high trust on the treatment would have affected the skyrocketing demand for it.

 

Saxenda

Saxenda’s market share in the overall obesity treatment market has shown steep increase.

 

In the fourth quarter last year, its pie took up more than 20 percent, and in the first quarter this year, the pie expanded out to over 30 percent.

 

By the last third quarter, the figure reached 33.7 percent.

 

Following Saxenda’s strong lead, Daewoong Pharmaceutical’s Dietamin (2.5 billion won), Ildong Pharmaceutical’s Belviq (2.2 billion won), Huon’s Hutermine (1.6 billion won), Alvogen Korea’s Furing (1.3 billion won), and Huon’s Phendi (one billion won) have each generated over one billion won in the last quarter.

 

However, their combined third quarter sales amount was about 8.6 billion won, far under Saxenda’s individual performance.