Celltrion gets sales approval for Yuflyma in Japan

South Korea's biopharmaceutical company Celltrion Inc. announced on Tuesday that it has secured approval from the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare to market Yuflyma, a biosimilar of the acclaimed autoimmune disease drug, Humira.

This approval enables Yuflyma to be used for the principal applications in Japan that Humira addresses, including rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, and psoriasis.

Subsequent to approvals in the US and Europe, Yuflyma has now gained approval in a total of 47 countries.

Humira, developed by the multinational pharmaceutical company AbbVie, features the active ingredient adalimumab and is distinguished as a blockbuster medicine, recording sales of $21.2 billion as of last year.

In alignment with its ongoing strategies, Celltrion is set to expedite the integration of Yuflyma into the Japanese market.

The company intends to leverage the experiences and insights gained from the successful launch and establishment of other drugs in Japan, such as Herzuma for breast and stomach cancer, Vegzelma for metastatic colorectal cancer, and Remsima for autoimmune diseases.

Write to Jeong Min Nam at peux@hankyung.com