Celltrion Healthcare to Start Direct Sales of All Products in Europe

Celltrion's blood cancer treatment 'Mabthera' biosimilar 'Truxima' (generic name 'Rituximab')

[Asia Economy Reporter Chunhee Lee] Celltrion Healthcare announced on the 10th that it will expand direct sales (direct selling) in the European market, which had been conducted only for some products, to all products starting from the second half of this year.

Celltrion Healthcare began direct sales of the biosimilar for autoimmune disease treatment, 'Remsima' (generic name 'Infliximab'), in 2019, and has been directly selling 'Remsima SC' and 'Yuflyma' (generic name 'Adalimumab'). Despite intensified competition after direct sales of Remsima, it has maintained a market share of over 50% based on IQVIA data through price competitiveness and customized marketing. Celltrion Healthcare explained that "the main reason for the success of direct sales was the establishment of local subsidiaries as strategic bases in major European markets and the quick response to market demand by utilizing accumulated pharmaceutical marketing and sales know-how through collaboration with global partners."

Accordingly, starting from the second half of this year, Celltrion Healthcare plans to fully launch direct sales of oncology biosimilars such as 'Truxima' (generic name 'Rituximab') and 'Herzuma' (generic name 'Trastuzumab'), expanding direct sales to cover up to 90% of the European oncology market. To this end, Celltrion Healthcare secured European distribution rights by agreeing to terminate contracts with major local partners responsible for selling oncology biosimilars in key European countries such as the UK and France. The company expects that the transition to direct sales will enable Truxima and Herzuma to expand their market and improve profitability through price competitiveness. Furthermore, by the end of this year, they plan to strengthen their oncology portfolio with the European launch of the biosimilar 'CT-P16' (generic name 'Bevacizumab'), a treatment for metastatic colorectal and breast cancer, biosimilar to 'Avastin'.

A Celltrion Healthcare official stated, “We were the first domestic pharmaceutical bio company to introduce direct sales of pharmaceuticals in global markets including Europe and have successfully established direct sales infrastructure worldwide,” adding, "As we are preparing for direct sales of follow-up products in the United States, the world's largest pharmaceutical market, we will leverage the know-how gained from improving the European distribution structure to successfully build infrastructure for direct sales in the U.S.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.