Celltrion's 'Remsima SC' Sales Expected to Exceed 15 Billion KRW Two Years After Launch in Australia

Australia's Market Situation Similar to the US
Next Month's Launch of 'Jimpentra' Expected as a Success Touchstone

‘RemsimaSC,’ the world’s only subcutaneous (SC) formulation of infliximab for autoimmune disease treatment developed and marketed by Celltrion, is showing rapid growth in Australia.

Remsima SC Model
Photo by Lee Chunhee

According to Celltrion on the 5th, since its launch in Australia in July 2021, RemsimaSC recorded sales of approximately 8 billion KRW in 2022, and by the third quarter of last year alone, sales reached 11.8 billion KRW, a 48% increase compared to the previous year. Considering this trend, the company expects annual sales in Australia last year to exceed 15 billion KRW.

Australia, the sixth largest country in the world by land area, has a low population density, resulting in long travel distances to hospitals. It is a representative country where non-face-to-face distribution systems delivering pharmaceuticals directly to homes are common. Given these market characteristics, Celltrion emphasized the convenience of RemsimaSC, which allows easy self-administration, to target the market. For patients, the company promoted the convenience of RemsimaSC as an alternative to the conventional intravenous (IV) infusion that requires hospital visits, encouraging a switch to RemsimaSC. For healthcare professionals, Celltrion introduced accumulated global clinical data and real-world prescription data to build trust and preference for the product.

In terms of market share, RemsimaSC started at 1% in 2021, rose to 8% in 2022, and reached 17% by the third quarter of last year. Since Celltrion holds both the IV formulation ‘Remsima’ and RemsimaSC, the advantage of a ‘dual formulation’ strategy has been highlighted, resulting in synergy as Remsima’s market share also increased from 25% in 2021 to 32% by the third quarter of last year.

Celltrion expects the Australian case to serve as a precedent for the upcoming launch of ‘Zimpenetra’ (the U.S. product name for RemsimaSC) in the United States on the 29th of next month. The U.S. and Australian markets share similarities such as large land areas with well-established non-face-to-face pharmaceutical distribution networks and a preference for self-administration like SC due to high medical costs discouraging hospital visits. Additionally, since Zimpenetra is approved as a new drug in the U.S., it benefits from patent protection until as late as 2040, allowing for more diverse marketing strategies.

A Celltrion official stated, “RemsimaSC, which has established itself as a representative treatment for autoimmune diseases in Europe, continues stable growth in Oceania’s key market, Australia, achieving a 17% market share just two years after its launch. Having expanded sales to the Latin American market last year and with the upcoming new drug launch in the world’s largest pharmaceutical market, the U.S., this year, we will actively reference the successful strategies used in Australia and implement customized sales strategies reflecting market characteristics to achieve strong sales performance for Zimpenetra.”

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