Celltrion's 'Vegzelma' Wins Bidding Contracts in Italy and Belgium

Celltrion Healthcare's anticancer biosimilar drug 'Vegzelma' (generic name: Bevacizumab) is expanding its market presence by consecutively winning bids in major European countries such as Italy and Belgium.

Celltrion's biosimilar for metastatic colorectal cancer and breast cancer treatment, 'Vegzelma' (generic name: Bevacizumab) [Photo provided by Celltrion]

Celltrion Healthcare announced on the 11th that Vegzelma, a treatment for metastatic colorectal and breast cancer, successfully won bids in the first quarter from the regional governments of Lombardy, Emilia-Romagna, and Tuscany, which are among the five major European countries (EU5) in Italy. These three regional governments account for about 40% of the public Bevacizumab market in Italy. By mutual agreement, Vegzelma will be supplied for 2 to 3 years per region.

In Belgium, Vegzelma also secured bids at the Bevacizumab tenders held by the hospital group in the Bruges region and O.L.V General Hospital, resulting in a two-year supply contract to these hospitals.

The company explained that these achievements are the result of the local subsidiaries establishing customized strategies tailored to the characteristics of individual bidding markets, which were successfully executed by commercial experts. Despite being a latecomer among Bevacizumab biosimilars, Celltrion Healthcare has achieved meaningful results in major European countries from the early launch stage by implementing flexible pricing policies based on cost structures supported by high production yields (Titer) at local subsidiaries. Furthermore, other anticancer biosimilar products sold by Celltrion Healthcare, such as 'Truxima' (generic name: Rituximab) and 'Herzuma' (generic name: Trastuzumab), continue to maintain leading market shares in Europe, which is also positively influencing the expansion of Vegzelma prescriptions.

Celltrion Healthcare plans to accelerate efforts to achieve success in Bevacizumab tenders in other major countries such as France and the Netherlands. Additionally, for medical institutions requiring individual contracts, specialized personnel from local subsidiaries will conduct separate marketing activities, continuing a two-track strategy to expand Vegzelma supply.

Won-sik Yoo, head of Celltrion Healthcare's Italy subsidiary, stated, “Since expanding direct sales of all products in Europe last year, we have achieved significant results in the bidding market based on the flexible pricing policies of local subsidiaries and the synergy from the performance of existing anticancer products. Having successfully launched Vegzelma in the United States last month, we will continue our efforts to expand Vegzelma prescription outcomes globally, including in Italy.”

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