April 27, 2024

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[THE INVESTOR] Korean biopharmaceutical firm Celltrion’s biosimilar drug Truxima will hit the shelves in Colombia, the company’s affiliate said on Feb. 21.

Global drug firm Mundi Pharma won exclusive rights to distribute and market the copy of Roche‘s blockbuster medicine, also known as MabThera, in the South American country, Celltrion Healthcare said.

Celltrion Healthcare is the marketing and distribution subsidiary of Celltrion.

Truxima -- the first biosimilar cancer drug to hit the European market last year -- is used to treat patients with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, chronic lymphocytic leukemia and rheumatoid arthritis.

Truxima is now sold in the European Union, as well as Norway, Iceland and Lichtenstein. The drug is also scheduled to be launched in the Middle East.

On the back of robust sales of its biosimilar drugs in overseas markets, the company’s net profits soared 82.1 percent in 2017 from a year earlier.

By Song Seung-hyun and newswires (ssh@heraldcorp.com)