Celltrion Vegzelma, No.1 Prescribed Bevacizumab in Europe with 29% Market Share

Overcoming the Latecomer Disadvantage to Achieve Success

Celltrion Vegzelma. Photo by Celltrion

Celltrion's metastatic colorectal and breast cancer treatment 'Vegzelma' (active ingredient bevacizumab) has become the number one prescribed drug in Europe.

According to IQVIA, a pharmaceutical market research firm, as of the third quarter of last year, Vegzelma achieved a 29% market share in Europe, surpassing original and competing products to rank first in bevacizumab prescriptions. This remarkable achievement was reached in just two years since its launch in Europe in October 2022. Notably, in that quarter alone, its share rose sharply by 9 percentage points compared to the previous quarter, successfully widening the gap with competing products.

The rapid rise of Vegzelma, launched as a latecomer, to the top market share was driven by the active direct sales efforts of Celltrion's European subsidiary. Starting with 'Remsima' (active ingredient infliximab) in 2020, Celltrion switched all its products to direct sales in Europe by 2022, including the anticancer drugs 'Herzuma' (trastuzumab) and 'Truxima' (rituximab). Subsequently, overseas subsidiaries established in each country continuously strengthened networks with key stakeholders such as bidding institutions and prescribers, actively leveraging these connections to swiftly target the market for Vegzelma and subsequent products, achieving remarkable results.

The recent increase in Vegzelma's market share was propelled by winning the procurement contract with UniHA, France's largest pharmaceutical procurement organization, in June last year. Through this contract, Celltrion is expected to gain further momentum in market expansion by supplying Vegzelma for the next two years until 2027.

In the autoimmune disease sector, prescriptions are steadily increasing, especially for follow-up product lines. In particular, in the EU5 countries, 'Remsima SC' increased by 1 percentage point from the previous quarter to 25%, and 'Yuflyma' (adalimumab) rose by 3 percentage points to 17%, continuing the trend of quarterly prescription growth since their launches.

Celltrion plans to leverage its solid position and expertise built in the European market to continue achieving results with newly launched products. The company is focusing on market dominance by sequentially launching the autoimmune disease treatment 'Stekima' (ustekinumab) in Europe. At the end of last year, four products?autoimmune disease treatment 'Aptozma' (tocilizumab), ophthalmic treatment 'Idengelt' (aflibercept), and bone disease treatments 'Stoboclo' and 'Osenbelt' (denosumab)?received positive approval recommendations from the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) under the European Medicines Agency (EMA). Once these products receive final approval, the portfolio synergy within Europe is expected to be further strengthened.

A Celltrion representative stated, "While our existing products have already firmly established influence in Europe and are showing stable results, the expansion of sales in follow-up product lines is further boosting our market dominance. Based on these achievements, we will do our best to ensure that all 11 commercialized products, including Stekima, which is expanding its launch regions, and upcoming new products, continue to achieve top performance in the European market."

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