Celltrion to sell biosimilar products via its own channel in Europe

South Korea's biopharmaceutical company Celltrion Inc. plans to sell all of its biosimilar products through its own sales channels in Europe to improve profitability.

The company’s global marketing arm, Celltrion Healthcare Co., will expand direct sales, currently limited to a couple of drugs, to all products it sells in the European market, it said on Tuesday.

The biosimilar maker also plans to sell its new products via its own marketing vehicles in the US market.

In Europe, the company currently sells five biosimilar products.

It launched Remsima, a treatment for autoimmune diseases, via a local partner in 2013, but started to directly sell the biosimilar in 2019.

Celltrion has been directly selling Remsima SC, a subcutaneous injection type, and Yuflyma, a biosimilar of arthritis treatment Humira, since their European launch in 2020 and 2021, respectively.

Celltrion’s two other biosimilars – Truxima, a blood cancer medication, and breast cancer medication Herzuma – will be sold through Celltrion Healthcare’s own marketing channels from the second half of this year.

The company plans to launch CT-P16, an Avastin biosimilar for treating metastatic colorectal cancer and breast cancer, via its distribution channels in Europe around the end of this year.

DIRECT SALES IN US MARKET

In the North American market, Celltrion Healthcare currently sells Remsima through its US partner Pfizer Inc., and Truxima and Herzuma via Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.

“We plan to maintain current partnerships with US companies for existing products. But for new products in the pipeline, we are going to sell directly in the US,” said a Celltrion Healthcare official.

Industry watchers said direct sales will likely improve Celltrion’s profitability but could hurt its local market share.

Remsima’s market share in Europe steadily increased from 46% in 2017 to 54% in 2018 and 58% in 2019 but fell to 53% in 2020 and 52% in the third quarter of last year after Celltrion started to sell the drug via its own channel in 2019.

Samsung Bioepis Co., a biopharmaceutical unit of Samsung Group, sells its products in the US and Europe through its local partners.

Biosimilars are products that have been demonstrated to be similar in efficacy and safety to the originator’s reference product, with the advantage that they offer cost savings and promote sustainable access to therapies.

Write to Jae-young Han at jyhan@hankyung.com
In-Soo Nam edited this article.