'Onbevezy' holds the No.1 spot for the domestic mkt

close competition among K-similars

Samsung Bioepis' Onbevezy generated domestic sales of KRW 45.2B last year, exceeding Remsima

Boryung's marketing strategy for anticancer agents has created synergy…Remsima generated sales of KRW 44.0B

Onbevezy·Remsima quarterly sales exceeded KRW 10B…overtook Remsima in Q4 2024

Samsung Bioepis' anticancer agent Onbevezy climbed to hold the No.1 spot in domestic sales as the first domestically developed biosimilar.

 

It has surpassed Remsima for the first time.

 

The quarterly sales of Onbevezy and Remsima exceeded KRW 10 billion, each competing to hold the No.1 spot.

 

According to the Financial Supervisory Service on March 26, Samsung Bioepis' Onbevezy generated domestic sales of KRW 45.2 billion last year, up 14.0% from the previous year.

 

Onbevezy chased Remsima's sales last year, KRW 44 billion, by a difference of KRW 1.2 billion, and rose to hold the No.1 spot for domestic sales of domestically developed biosimilars.

 

Domestic sales of Korea-made biosimilars by years (unit: 1 million, source: Financial Supervisory Service).

 

Legend: Blue-Onbevezy, Yellow-Remsima, Gray-Herzuma

Onbevezy is a biosimilar to the anticancer drug Avastin.

 

It is an anticancer drug used to treat patients with metastatic colorectal cancer, metastatic breast cancer, non-small cell lung cancer, advanced or metastatic renal cell carcinoma, glioblastoma, epithelial ovarian cancer, carcinoma of the fallopian tube, primary peritoneal cancer, and cervical cancer.

 

Samsung Bioepis launched Onbevezy in September 2021 in the Avastin market.

 

Celltrion and Alvogen Korea also entered the market.

 

In 2023, Onbevezy was behind sales of Remsima by KRW 800 million, but it successfully exceeded Remsima sales last year.

 

Onbevezy entered the market first among other biosimilar products.

 

Analysis suggests that a customized marketing strategy maximized the synergy.

 

After obtaining the domestic approval of Onbevezy, Samsung Bioepis signed an exclusive sales agreement with Boryung, one of the Korean companies with strength in the field of anticancer drugs.

 

In May 2020, Boryung newly established the ONCO (anticancer) sector.

 

The company independently separated the sector from the prescription medicine sector.

 

Boryung secured sales rights to various anticancer drugs and biosimilars owned by Korean and international companies.

 

With the LBA (Legacy Brands Acquisition) strategy of acquiring sales rights for original anticancer drugs, Boryung secured Gemzar and Alimta.

 

Boryung also secured Korean sales rights for Herceptin biosimilar from Samsung Bioepis.

 

In Q2 2023, Onbevezy surpassed sales of KRW 10 billion, and the drug also recorded quarterly sales of over KRW 10 billion.

 

Remsima, which Celltrion sells, generated sales of KRW 44 billion last year, up 8.7% from the previous year.

 

However, it allowed Onbevezy to overtake its position.

 

Remsima is a biosimilar to the autoimmune disease treatment Remicade.

 

It was approved as the first domestically developed antibody biosimilar in 2012.

 

Remsima is used to treat Crohn’s disease, ankylosing spondylitis, ulcerative colitis, and rheumatoid arthritis.

 

Upon launch, Remsima continued to generate the highest domestic sales figure for over 10 years among domestically developed biosimilars in South Korea.

 

Remsima generated global sales of KRW 1.2680 trillion last year, an increase of over three-fold from KRW 420 billion in 2023.

 

It topped KRW 1 trillion in yearly sales, first among domestically developed pharmaceuticals.

 

Domestic sales of Korea-made biosimilar by quarters years (unit: 1 million, source: Financial Supervisory Service) Legend: Blue-Onbevezy, Yellow-Remsima, Gray-Herzuma

Quarterly sales figures indicate that Remsima lost the No.1 rank for five consecutive quarters through Q3 of last year after allowing Onbevezy to overtake the position in 2023.

 

However, in Q4 of last year, Remsima reversed the trend again, indicating strong competition for the top position.

 

In Q4 of 2024, Remsima's sales reached KRW 12.1 billion, a 35.3% increase year-over-year (YoY), outpacing Onbevezy by KRW 1.6 billion.

 

In contrast, Onbevezy's Q4 sales for last year were KRW 10.6 billion, a YoY increase by 4.3%.

 

However, Onbevezy lost to Remsima in just six quarters.

 

The introduction of Korea-made biosimilars typically drives down the prices of original drugs, thereby reducing the burden on the National Health Insurance budget.

 

Following the listing of Onbevezy, in October 2021, the ceiling price for Avastin 0.1 g/4 mL was reduced by 30%, from KRW 330,387 to KRW 231,271, and that for Avastin 0.4 g/16 mL dropped by 30% from KRW 1,077,531 to KRW 752,746.

 

According to the policy, when a biosimilar enters the domestic market, the ceiling price for the original drug is lowered by 30% compared to its pre-patent-expiration level.

 

However, 'Products developed by innovative pharmaceutical companies·Those deemed equivalent·products developed through joint agreements between domestic and foreign pharmaceutical firms·Products for which Korea was the first approving country·Products manufactured domestically' are guaranteed to retain up to 80% of the original product's pre-patent-expiration price for both the original drug and its biosimilar.

 

Since Samsung Bioepis is not classified as an innovative pharmaceutical company, Avastin's price fell to about 70% of its previous level.

 

According to IQVIA, a pharmaceutical market research firm, Avastin recorded sales of KRW 30.9 billion in Q3 2021, but it declined sharply to KRW 22.6 billion in Q1, a drop of 27.2%.

 

The introduction of biosimilars, which led to a 30% reduction in the original drug's price, is analyzed to have resulted in significant savings for the National Health Insurance budget and patients' drug costs.

 

Among Korea-made biosimilars, Celltrion's Herzuma generated sales of KRW 21.3 billion last year, an increase of 43.4% from the previous year.

 

Herzuma is a biosimilar version to Herceptin.

 

Truxima, Celltrion's biosimilar version of MabThera, generated sales of KRW 11.4 billion last year, a drop of 23.2% from the year before.