Weighted average price of apixaban falls 24%

Declines from KRW 744 in 2024 to KRW 566 in 2025

Voluntary price cuts, including Liquisia… Market share battle with original drug set to intensify

The weighted average price of apixaban declined by 24% last year, driven by increasing market penetration of generic products competing with the original anticoagulant Eliquis (apixaban) and reductions in reimbursement ceiling prices.

Further declines are expected this year as generic competition intensifies, with products such as Chong Kun Dang’s Liquisia and Samjin Pharmaceutical’s Elxaban expanding their market presence.

According to the Health Insurance Review & Assessment Service (HIRA)’s 2025 annual weighted average prices by active ingredient data, apixaban’s weighted average price fell from KRW 744 to KRW 566 year-over-year.

BMS Pharmaceutical Korea’s Eliquis has been engaged in market share competition with generics since the year before last. Pharmaceutical companies that had withdrawn from the market after losing patent lawsuits relaunched their generics, and last year they launched aggressive market penetration efforts, including voluntary price reductions.

Chong Kun Dang’s Liquisia reduced its reimbursement ceiling price from KRW 570 to KRW 567 through a voluntary price cut in October last year. Samjin Pharmaceutical’s Elxaban, expanding its presence in tertiary hospitals, is priced at KRW 550. Boryung’s BRapix also voluntarily reduced its ceiling price from KRW 724 to KRW 549 starting last November.

Eliquis itself saw its ceiling price reduced from KRW 745 to KRW 570 last September following the reentry of its generic versions. All in all, the weighted average price of  apixaban declined sharply within a single year due to generic relaunches and price adjustments.

Despite this decline, apixaban’s weighted average price remains close to Eliquis’s ceiling price. This may indicate that generic penetration, while increasing, is not yet dominant enough to drive deeper price erosion.

It also indicates that aggressive low-price bidding to enter tertiary hospitals has not yet occurred. Price management is being well-executed even amid market competition.

The extent of further declines in the weighted average price for both the first and second halves of this year will likely be determined by the expansion of generics' market share. The key factor will be changes in market share held by Samjin and Boryung, which are expanding prescriptions using price competitiveness as their weapon.

According to pharmaceutical market research firm UBIST, Eliquis sales declined from KRW 77.3 billion in 2023 to KRW 74.2 billion in 2024, representing a 3.9% decrease. The impact of generic re-entry is expected to continue to grow.

Prior to market withdrawal following patent litigation losses, apixaban generics held a 24% market share. As of the third quarter of last year, their share stood at around 13% post-relaunch. Therefore, even considering only the previous market share, there remains potential for approximately 11% growth.