Power of Innovative Drugs, Keytruda & Spinraza Shake Market

Analysis of high ranked items in the third quarters sales. Lipitor continues to lead with ₩36.3 billion

Keytruda, Leading to ₩33 billion, Spinraza is on the traces of Keytruda

Avastin, Humira are very well

New products, which are regarded as innovative new drugs in the domestic pharmaceutical market, are shaking the upper hand.

 

Keytruda, an immunocancer drug, spearheaded Lipitor to the chin with a steep rise.

 

Rare disorder treatment “Spinraza” presented a remarkable quarterly sales of ₩20 billion immediately after applying for health insurance reimbursement.

 

According to IQVIA,the health information technology and clinical research on the 18th, Pfizer's Lipitor, medicine that lowers cholesterol in the blood, posted the highest sales of ₩36.3 billion in the third quarter.

 

It rose 5.5% over the same period in the previous year.

 

Lipitor, which was released in Korea in 1999, is still well despite the entry of more than 100 generic products after the patent expiration in 2009.

 

Top 10 sales medications in third quaeters 2019 (Unit: KRW million, %, Source: IQVIA)

Keytruda's propaganda was noticeable.

 

Keytruda's the third-quarter sales grew 78.9% over the same period in the previous year to ₩33 billion ranking second after Lipitor.

 

The company's quarterly sales gap with Lipitor is narrowed to ₩3.3 billion threatening its lead.

 

Keytruda binds to the PD-1 receptor, blocking both immune-suppressing ligands, PD‑L1 and PD‑L2, from interacting with PD-1 to help restore T-cell response and immune response.

 

When functioning properly, T cells are activated and can attack tumor cells.

 

Since August 2017, insurance reimbursement has been applied as a secondary treatment for non-small cell lung cancer.

 

Quarterly sales of Keytruda jumped from ₩4.9 billion in the fourth quarter of 2017 to ₩13.6 billion in the first quarter of 2018.

 

Keytruda exceeded sales of ₩ 20billion in the fourth quarter of last year and has recorded sales of ₩30 billion since the second quarter of this year.

 

Keytruda has booked a record-breaking ₩100 billion in sales in the third quarter of this year.

 

It also attempt to get top position of Lipitor.

 

The sales gap between Lipitor and Kitruda is ₩19 billion based on cumulative sales in third quarter

Quarterly Sales Revenue by Quarter (Unit: KRW million, Source: IQVIA)

Biogen's Spinraza made a surprise blast with sales of ₩20.4 billion in the third quarter.

 

The company did not generate sales until the second quarter, but sold more than ₩20 billion at a stretch.

 

Spinraza is a rare disease treatment that treats hereditary diseases of the neuromuscular system, in which the muscles are contracted by damage to the spinal cord and brain stem motor neurons, called spinal muscular atrophy (SMA).

 

Cognitive function is normal, but muscle tension is poor, tongue muscle contractions, such as normal life is difficult.

 

Spinraza, which was approved in Korea in December 2017, was listed on the health insurance list at the maximum price of ₩92.3 million in one bottle (5ml) in April after drug pricing negotiating with National Health Insurance Service.

 

Spinraza does not have a large number of patients and must undergo a rigorous procedure that requires prior review before administration.

 

However, due to the high price, it made ₩20 billion in sales.

 

Roche's anti-cancer drug 'Avastin' was ranked 3rd overall with sales of ₩30.7 billion, up 18.1% from the previous year.

 

Avastin, which is used for metastatic colorectal cancer, metastatic breast cancer, and non-small cell lung cancer, surpassed the annual sales of ₩100 billion for the first time since its domestic approval last year.

 

Cumulative sales for the third quarter of this year stood at ₩89.2 billion, which is likely to exceed ₩100 billion for two consecutive years.

 

Abbvie's autoimmune disease treatment product, Humira, recorded ₩24.4 billion in sales in the third quarter up 12.4% from the previous year.

 

Humira is a TNF-alpha inhibitor that inhibits the expression of tumor necrosis factor (TNF-α).

 

and continues to rise due to the merits which has the most indications among the TNF-alpha inhibitors.

 

Humira's 3rd quarter cumulative sales increased 15.1% year-on-year to ₩71.3billion.

 

AstraZeneca's anti-cancer drug Tagrisso jumped to fifth place in the third quarter with sales of ₩21.1 billion.

 

The growth rate was 42.0% year-on-year.

 

Tagrisso is a second-line treatment prescribed for patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who developed resistance after conventional EGFR tyrosine kinase (TKI), such as Iressa, Tarceva, and Gilotrif.

 

It is called a third generation drug because it overcomes the resistance of the existing EGFR-TKI.

 

Tagrisso, which was launched in December 2017, received nearly ₩60 billion in sales last year, making it the leading EGFR anticancer drug.

 

Revenue continued to rise after exceeding ₩20 billion in the previous second quarter.

 

Gilead's hepatitis B treatment, Viread, which was once the leader in overall sales, recorded only ₩20.7 billion in the third quarters sales, down 29.3% from the previous year.

 

After patent expiration, market share dropped sharply due to drug price cuts and generic emergence.