Korean pharmaceuticals turn to Humira biosimilars

AbbVie Inc.’s Humira [Photo provided by AbbVie]

South Korean pharmaceuticals plan to set themselves apart from their global rivals by featuring high concentrations and interchangeability as global market players are competing for lower prices of biosimilars of the U.S. immunosuppressant medicine Humira.

In addition to the U.S. Amgen, which launched the first biosimilar Amjevita in January, other eight pharmaceuticals worldwide are set to follow suit in July alone.

Samsung Bioepis Co., in collaboration with its U.S. partner Organon & Co., announced the launch of Humira biosimilar Hadlima on July 1. On the same day, another two biosimilars Hyrimoz and Cyltezo were unveiled by Swiss drugmaker Sandoz and German drugmaker Boehringer Ingelheim, respectively. Celltrion Inc. launched its Humira biosimilar Yuflyma in the U.S. on July 2. Viatris Ltd‘s Hulio and Coherus Biosciences Inc’s Yusimry, are expected to launch in the U.S. as early as in July.

Humira is a blockbuster drug developed by AbbVie Inc., with global sales worth 27 trillion won ($21.2 billion) last year. Of the sales, 24 trillion won, or 87 percent, was generated from the U.S. Global pharmaceutical companies are rallying for market shares in the large-scale market of the U.S. Amgen worked on a pre-agreement with AbbVie to launch the first biosimilar version of Humira. However, its share has been only at 0.7 percent due to a formulation of low concentration.

Some enterprises launched Humira biosimilars by offering prices that are only half of the reference product. Amgen’s Amjevita costs 55 percent less than Humira’s price of $6,922, and Coherus’s Yusimry will be priced at $995. Biosimilars are initially priced around 30 percent below the reference drug.

Samsung Bioepis launched Hadlima at $1,038, a price that is an 85 percent discount off the reference product. On the other hand, Celltrion set a price higher at $6,576.5. “High-price strategy brings advantages, including greater bargaining power in a consultation with pharmacy benefit managers (PBM),” said an unnamed source from Celltrion. “Pharmaceuticals varied in pricing strategies depending on their marketing stances.”

The two Korean companies are seeking to secure competitive edges with a high-concentration formulation and interchangeability approvals. Both are able to present real-world data on Humira, accumulated in Europe in which Humira’s patent expired first.

Samsung Bioepis and Celltrion focused on a formulation of high concentration, which cater to 85 percent of the demand for Humina in the U.S. Both are a part of the three pharmaceuticals that have been approved for the use of the formulation in the U.S., including Sandoz. In particular, Samsung Bioepis and Sandoz are the ones that received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for both high and low concentrations.