April 24, 2024

• 

[THE INVESTOR] Korean pharmaceutical firm Samsung Bioepis saw its accumulated sales in the European market hit US$545.2 million last year, data showed on Jan. 30.

Sales of three biosimilar products -- Benepali, Flixabi and Imradli -- surged 44 percent on-year in 2018, according to the data provided by Biogen, which is in charge of Samsung Bioepis’ sales in Europe.

By product, sales of Benepali increased 31 percent on-year to US$485.2 million last year. Flixabi’s sales grew around fourfold over the cited period to US$43.2 million. Imraldi, which was first launched in October, posted sales of US$16.7 million in just 70 days.

Samsung’s Benepali is a biosimilar referencing Enbrel developed by U.S.-based Amgen Inc. and is used for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis and psoriatic arthritis.

Flixabi, based on Janssen’s Remicade, is used for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis.

Imraldi -- a copy of the autoimmune disease drug Humira -- was first commercialized in Britain, France, Germany, Spain and Italy.

It can be used for the treatment of such diseases as rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, ulcerative colitis and uveitis.

By Ram Garikipati and newswires (ram@heraldcorp.com)