April 23, 2024

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[THE INVESTOR] South Korea’s Celltrion will push to bolster the market share of its first biosimilar referencing Johnson & Johnson’s Remicade by offering more customized and affordable options, the company said on Jan. 12.

Celltrion is developing a new subcutaneous formulation of its rheumatoid arthritis treatment drug Remsima in order to strengthen its footing in the global tumor necrosis factor alpha, or TNF-alpha, inhibitor market. 

“During the event, we witnessed high expectations for Remsima as the drug has successfully settled in the European market and is increasing its market share while starting sales in the US in earnest,” said Celltrion CEO Kim Hyoung-ki during the 35th Annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference held in San Francisco, US.

Unlike the existing version of Remsima that requires intravenous injection, the new drug can be administered by the patient through subcutaneous injection.

Drugs that target TNF-alpha are among the most effective agents for treating a range of immune diseases including rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, and Crohn’s disease.

While the TNF-alpha inhibitor market is currently dominated by branded biological treatments such as Amgen’s top-selling drug Enbrel and AbbVie’s Humira, Celltrion is quickly penetrating the market with deep discounts.

In the first quarter of 2016, the Remicade biosimilar captured 59 percent of the Norwegian TNF-alpha inhibitor market.

Providing the two versions of Remsima together will give patients more treatment options and could help its market share expansion, the company said.

Celltrion also said it will launch a diagnostic kit for patients with autoimmune diseases including rheumatism arthritis in April at earliest. The kit will enable doctors to instantly diagnose whether patients are suitable for TNF-alpha inhibitor treatment, the company said.

By Park Han-na (hnpark@heraldcorp.com)