Celltrion's autoimmune disease treatment drug Uplima (ingredient name adalimumab) has shown an increase in market share in Europe.
Celltrion noted that according to the data from the market research firm IQVIA, Uplima's market share in Europe for the first quarter of this year reached 24%, marking a 3 percentage point increase over the previous quarter.
Uplima is a biosimilar (biomedical counterpart) of the original drug Humira developed by the global pharmaceutical company AbbVie. Its feature is that it increases the concentration, reducing the dosage by half compared to lower concentration products and eliminating Citrate, which can cause pain.
The company said, "We are now just 1 percentage point behind the top product," adding that it is a valuable achievement in fierce competition with more than 10 adalimumab treatments, including the original product 'Humira,' approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA).
Uplima was released in the third quarter of 2021, three years later than competing products, and it was expected that the market penetration would not be easy, but it quickly increased its prescription performance and entered the leading ranks. The other adalimumab biosimilar products were released in Europe in the third quarter of 2018.
The company cited its direct sales system in Europe as a key success factor. Uplima is the second product that Celltrion has launched directly in Europe. The company actively utilized the sales experience and healthcare professional network it built through direct sales, including winning bids, hospital marketing, and stakeholder network management. Some autoimmune disease patients also need to switch to alternative treatments when they develop resistance to a single agent over long-term use.
A Celltrion official stated that "the fact that Uplima has risen to the prescription leading group despite being launched three years later than competing products indicates that Celltrion has strong direct sales capabilities," and added, "We will continue to expand sales of all products, including Uplima, by actively utilizing synergies among products with the launch of high-revenue new products planned for the end of this year."
Following the launch of 'Steqeyma' (ingredient name ustekinumab) at the end of last year, Celltrion is set to launch 'Apatozma' (ingredient name tocilizumab) in the second half of this year. As a result, the number of first-line autoimmune disease treatments sold in Europe will increase to five.