[Special Stock] Blockbuster Generic Drug Sales in US... Celtrion 3 Companies Strong in Bear Market

by Gi Yeonjin

Published 27 Apr.2022 15:00(KST)

[Special Stock] Blockbuster Generic Drug Sales in US... Celtrion 3 Companies Strong in Bear Market

[Asia Economy Reporter Ji Yeon-jin] On the 27th, while the domestic stock market showed weakness, the three Celltrion companies were rising together. The news that Celltrion reached an agreement with AbbVie, the developer of the autoimmune treatment Humira, regarding patents in the United States appears to have driven up the stock prices of these companies.

As of 2:53 PM on the same day, Celltrion was trading on the KOSPI market at 171,500 KRW, up 2.08% (3,500 KRW) from the previous day. At the same time on the KOSDAQ market, Celltrion Healthcare was up 0.45% (300 KRW) at 61,700 KRW, and Celltrion Pharm was up 2.39% (2,100 KRW) at 90,000 KRW.

On this day, Celltrion announced that it had finalized the patent agreement with AbbVie in the U.S. regarding Humira, enabling the company to start selling Uplizna in the U.S. from July 2023.

Celltrion completed the approval application for the Humira biosimilar 'Uplizna' to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in November 2020. The company expects approval within this year.

Humira, the reference drug for Uplizna, is considered a blockbuster autoimmune disease treatment drug, recording sales of $20.7 billion in 2021. Sales in the U.S. market reached $17.33 billion.

The biggest difference of Uplizna among Humira biosimilars is its high-concentration formulation. It reduced the drug dosage by half compared to the low-concentration product and removed citrate, which can cause pain. It received sales approval from the European Medicines Agency (EMA) in February last year, from the Korean Ministry of Food and Drug Safety in October, and from Health Canada in December.