Will Pfizer rise to the top with once-weekly growth hormone?

Ngenla Prefilled Pen Inj to be reimbursed from September..offers improved convenience in administration over existing injections

A new growth hormone with improved convenience in administration will be introduced to Korea’s annual KRW 240 billion growth hormone market with reimbursement in September this year.

 

The drug is Pfizer's Ngenla Prefilled Pen Inj.

 

Whether Pfizer will use the reimbursement of its new drug as momentum and be able to rise to the top in this market that is being led by domestic companies such as LC Chem and Dong-A ST, is gaining attention.

 

According to industry sources on the 21st, the Ministry of Health and Welfare announced that it will be newly listing Ngenla Prefilled Pen Inj 24mg and Ngenla Prefilled Pen Inj 60mg with reimbursement from September 1st through the administrative notice of the drug reimbursement standard.

 

Ngenla is a treatment for growth hormone deficiency in children.

 

It offers a longer half-life through molecular modification of the company’s existing growth hormone, Genotropin, which was developed as a once-daily subcutaneous injection formulation.

 

As a result, Ngenla improved the patients’ convenience in administration by requiring only once-weekly injections.

 

Pfizer recorded sales of KRW 30.7 billion (based on IQVIA) last year with Genotropin.

 

Although the company did make a mark in the market, it was considerably less than what LG Chem or Dong-A ST had raised with their respective growth hormone products.

 

Last year, LG Chem’s Eutropin made KRW 84.8 billion, and Dong-A ST’s Growtropin KRW 47.3 billion.

 

Merck’s Saizen also posted sales of KRW 33 billion last year and exceeded Genotropin’s performance.

 

Eutropin is administered 3-6 times a week, Growtropin 5-7 times and week, and Saizen once-daily as injectables.

 

Therefore, Ngenla Prefilled Pen is definitely ahead of existing products in terms of ease of administration.

 

In terms of efficacy, its non-inferiority to Genotropin was observed in annual HV (height velocity) at 12 months, demonstrating the drug’s similar efficacy to Genotropin.

 

The domestic growth hormone market has grown rapidly, nearly doubling in the past four years.

 

This is because the reimbursement standards for the drugs have been partially lowered while the non-reimbursed drug market for growth hormones increased significantly.

 

The analysis is that more children and adolescents are receiving growth hormone injections during vacation.

 

Although Ngenla has better quality by improving administration convenience, industry analysis is that the company would need to have ample sales power comparable to that of domestic companies and must raise sales in the non-reimbursed drug market.

 

In particular, multinational companies will have to ensure stable supply and withstand the supply flood of products being supplied by the domestic companies.

 

Patients tend to have poor adherence to growth hormone therapy.

 

However, long-acting treatments like Ngenla lower the treatment burden and improve adherence, and therefore are likely to offer better results.

 

This is why the industry believes, long-acting recombinant human growth hormone (rhGH) injections are expected to take over the market in the long term.