Samyang Holdings Biopharm Group announced that its anti-cancer treatment drug ‘Pemed S (main ingredient name: pemetrexed disodium salt 2.5 hydrate, hereinafter referred to as Pemed S)’ achieved more than 40% of the prescription market share among treatments with the same ingredient in the second quarter of this year. revealed. Femed S is a treatment for non-small cell lung cancer and malignant pleural mesothelioma.
According to data from IQVIA Korea, a healthcare industry big data analysis agency, Femed S was prescribed in 8,310 vials (based on 500mg quantity) in the second quarter of this year, recording a market share of 40.2%. If converted into money, it is approximately 11.2 billion won per year, and the total market size of the injection drug is approximately 34.8 billion won per year as of 2021.
Lee Young-jun, CEO of Samyang Holdings Biopharm Group, said, “Phemed S has secured the highest market share, accounting for more than 80% of the market for generic injections (generic drugs) with the same ingredients,” and added, “Sales increased by 7.4% compared to the same period last year, and the volume increased by 7.4%. “It is showing continuous growth, increasing by 13.5% each,” he explained.
The popularity of Femed S is expected to accelerate further in the future. This is because in March of this year, the combination therapy with pemetrexed and ‘pembrolizumab’ was approved by the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service as a first-line treatment for non-small cell lung cancer. Pembrolizumab is an immunotherapy drug that helps the body’s immune system attack cancer. Considering the recent growing interest in combination therapy that adds immunotherapy to cytotoxic chemotherapy, it is expected that the market base for Femed S will also expand.
Samyang Holdings Biopharm Group is seeking to expand its sales network to not only large general hospitals in Seoul and the metropolitan area, but also medium-to-large hospitals in regional areas, based on the growing demand for Femed S. At the same time, the plan is to increase market share by expanding coverage and securing new patients by utilizing reimbursement for first-line combination therapy with pembrolizumab.
Femed S, developed by Samyang Holdings Biopharm Group in 2015, has applied its own technology to ensure stability without adding toxic antioxidants, and has improved both dispensing convenience and drug stability by changing the existing powder formulation to a liquid formulation. In addition, by launching the first and only 1,000mg dose in Korea, it reduced the financial burden on patients and contributed to reducing insurance financial waste. Koreans usually use around 900 mg of the injectable drug per dose, but before the launch of Femed S, the maximum dose was 500 mg, so 2 vials were used to administer and the remaining drug had to be discarded.
Meanwhile, Samyang Holdings Biopharm Group is the only company in Korea that holds both EU and Japanese GMP certification for cytotoxic anticancer injections. We have an in-house production process that ensures stability, enabling us to manufacture medicines of reliable quality, and we are exporting raw medicines and finished medicines to over 30 countries around the world, including advanced pharmaceutical countries such as Germany and Japan. Recently, in order to kick-start the global CDMO business, a cytotoxic anticancer injection plant with a total capacity of 5 million vials, including 4 million vials of liquid injections and 1 million vials of freeze-dried injections, is being built on the site of the Daejeon pharmaceutical plant.
Source: Pangyo Techno Valley Official Newsroom
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