Dongkook Pharmaceutical and GC Green Cross Join Hands for Domestic Marketing of Insulin Biosimilars

Insulin Biosimilar 'Glazia'
Confirmed Equivalent Efficacy and Safety to Original
Dongkook Pharmaceutical to Handle Domestic Sales and Marketing

Dongkook Pharmaceutical announced on the 3rd that it has signed a business agreement with GC Green Cross regarding the domestic sales and marketing activities of the insulin biosimilar 'Glazia.'

GC Green Cross insulin biosimilar 'Glazia'.
[Photo by Dongkook Pharmaceutical]

GC Green Cross's Glazia Prefilled Pen (insulin glargine) is a product introduced from Biocon Biologics. According to the agreement, Dongkook Pharmaceutical will be responsible for the domestic sales and marketing of Glazia starting from June 2023. As the sole domestic distributor, Dongkook Pharmaceutical plans to compete with foreign pharmaceutical companies in the insulin injection market.

Insulin injections are classified into mealtime insulin, administered immediately before meals, and basal insulin, administered once daily. Glazia is a basal insulin biosimilar product administered once daily, developed by Biocon Biologics, headquartered in India. Currently available basal insulin products include Tresiba containing insulin degludec, Levemir containing insulin detemir, and Toujeo, Lantus, Basaglar, and Glazia containing insulin glargine.

The U.S. product name for Glazia is Semglee, which is sold by Biocon's partner and has demonstrated equivalence in efficacy and safety compared to the original drug Lantus through multiple clinical trials. Semglee is the world's first product approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as an interchangeable biosimilar product. In the U.S., generic drugs proven to be therapeutically equivalent can be substituted at pharmacies, whereas biosimilars require proof of interchangeability for pharmacists to substitute them. Through research, Semglee (Glazia) has proven interchangeability with the original drug Lantus.

A representative from Dongkook Pharmaceutical stated, "We are focusing on the diabetes market as a core new growth engine in the prescription drug market, and through this agreement, we have secured differentiated competitiveness from other companies." He added, "We will actively seek mutual cooperation with GC Green Cross going forward."

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