Celltrion Expands Prescriptions of Key Products Including Vegzelma Across Europe

On-Site Direct Sales Drive Results
Growing Expectations for High-Profit New Products

Celltrion's anticancer and autoimmune disease treatments are achieving stable growth in major European countries, expanding performance across its entire business portfolio. In particular, newly launched products are quickly establishing themselves in the market through major bid wins and the spread of prescriptions, strengthening Celltrion's market influence in Europe alongside its flagship products.

According to industry sources on April 16, Celltrion's metastatic colorectal and breast cancer treatment drug 'Vegzelma' (ingredient name: bevacizumab) is maintaining a stable market share in Europe. In France, one of the five major European markets, the product has been awarded consecutive contracts in key bids such as UniHA (the largest pharmaceutical procurement agency in France, a purchasing group for major university hospitals), HACOM (a purchasing group for public hospitals in Normandy), and GRAPS (a purchasing group for public hospitals in the Grand Est region). Based on these achievements, Vegzelma has secured more than half of the bevacizumab market share in France and is now leading the market.

Celltrion's metastatic colorectal and breast cancer treatment drug, Vegzelma. Celltrion

Celltrion's French subsidiary is also supplying 'Herzuma' (ingredient name: trastuzumab), a breast cancer treatment, nationwide through UniHA following Vegzelma. In addition, the blood cancer treatment 'Truxima' (ingredient name: rituximab) has been awarded a contract in the Paris University Hospital Group's bid, resulting in all three of Celltrion's anticancer drugs achieving remarkable outcomes in the French market.

In Germany, the expansion of anticancer drug prescriptions continues. Celltrion's German subsidiary is conducting sales and marketing activities targeting key stakeholders, including major general hospitals, private clinics, and pharmacies, thereby driving prescription growth. As a result, Truxima and Vegzelma have secured the top spot in prescriptions in the retail market, outperforming original and competing biosimilar products, while Herzuma has ranked second, further expanding direct sales performance.

Despite being a latecomer compared to competing products, Vegzelma has proven its competitiveness by securing stable market shares across various European countries. According to pharmaceutical market research firm IQVIA, as of the fourth quarter of last year, Vegzelma achieved approximately a 30% market share in Europe, maintaining its number one position in the bevacizumab market.

Celltrion's newly launched autoimmune disease treatments are also expanding their performance in Europe. 'Aptozema' (ingredient name: tocilizumab) has won bids for public tenders in regions such as the Basque Country and Madrid in Spain, and has also been selected as a supplier in a tender managed by INGESA, an agency under the Ministry of Health, continuing local sales. In neighboring Portugal, both the Aptozema auto-injector (AI) and vial formulations have been designated as the top suppliers in national tenders, expanding their market influence.

Aptozema is also showing rapid growth in Germany. In the subcutaneous (SC) formulation of tocilizumab, which accounts for the majority of local market demand, Aptozema's sales volume increased by 57% in the first quarter of this year compared to the previous quarter. For the intravenous (IV) formulation, sales volume in February this year rose by 87% compared to the previous month, indicating strong growth momentum.

Celltrion explained that its success in Germany was driven by the possession of additional stability data for the Aptozema IV formulation, which differentiated its sales points, and the strengthening of marketing activities targeting medical professionals. Furthermore, the growth of Aptozema is having a positive impact on the prescription expansion of 'Yuflyma' (ingredient name: adalimumab), another autoimmune disease treatment sold in Germany. Since the launch of Aptozema last year, Yuflyma has maintained quarterly growth of about 10%, achieving the highest growth rate in the local adalimumab market. Celltrion analyzed that the expansion of its product portfolio has maximized sales and marketing synergy, resulting in the simultaneous growth of both products.

A Celltrion official stated, "Following our existing products, newly launched high-profit products are also continuing their success in major European countries with strong bid performance and stable prescription growth, contributing to sales growth based on synergies across our product portfolio. We will continue to strengthen our differentiated product competitiveness and field-oriented sales activities to further expand product sales performance in the future."

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