Only Vemlidy’s sales grew in the ₩300B HBV drug mkt

Vemlidy’s 1H prescription sales reach KRW 37.8 billion, up 10% year-on-year

The only original product to show growth, while sales of Viread and Baraclude slow down in the HBV drug market

Vemlidy’s generic versions are also the only main substance to show growth, doubling in a year

Korea's hepatitis B treatment market, which is valued at KRW 300 billion annually, is rapidly restructuring around Vemlidy (tenofovir alafenamide).

 

Among original products, only Vemlidy is maintaining its growth, and in the generic market, only the Vemlidy series has shown a significant increase in sales.

 

HBV treatment market reaches KRW 150.9 billion in 1H, up 2% year-on-year According to the pharmaceutical market research institution UBIST on the 13th, the domestic hepatitis B treatment market reached KRW 150.9 billion in the first half of this year.

 

This represents a 2% increase from the KRW 147.6 billion in the first half of last year.

 

At this pace, the HBV drug market is expected to record prescription sales of over KRW 300 billion for the second consecutive year.

 

Share of Vemlidy original and generic products in the Quarterly HBV treatment market

Last year, the hepatitis B treatment market re-entered the KRW 300 billion range for the first time in 6 years since 2018.

 

The market had exceeded KRW 300 billion in 2018 but decreased to KRW 273.1 billion in 2019.

 

This was due to the expiration of the patent for Gilead Sciences' Viread, which had been leading the market, and the subsequent price reduction of the drug.

 

The market further shrank to KRW 266 billion in 2020.

 

Since 2021, the market has shifted to growth.

 

In 2021, the market increased by 4% to KRW 275.6 billion.

 

In 2022, it reached KRW 283.8 billion, then grew by 3% for two consecutive years to KRW 283.8 billion in 2022, then KRW 292.3 billion in 2023.

 

Last year, it expanded further to over KRW 300 billion.

 

Vemlidy becomes the only original drug to show growth…grows 10% in one year Gilead's Vemlidy drove market growth.

 

Vemlidy’s first-half prescription sales reached KRW 37.8 billion, a 10% increase from the previous year.

 

Vemlidy is a new hepatitis B drug developed by Gilead as a successor to Viread.

 

While the existing Viread is highly effective in suppressing the hepatitis B virus, its drawbacks include side effects such as renal dysfunction and reduced bone density.

 

Vemlidy overcomes these limitations of Viread.

 

In clinical trials, no such side effects were observed.

 

Given the challenging nature of hepatitis B, which is difficult to cure, the long-term safety of Vemlidy has emerged as a key advantage.

 

Quarterly prescriptions of major HBV treatments (Viread, Baraclude, Vemlidy)

Launched in Korea in 2017, Vemlidy is the only original product among major products that has maintained growth.

 

Meanwhile, the market leader, Viread (tenofovir sofosbuvir), saw a 1% decrease from KRW 45.4 billion to KRW 44.9 billion in one year.

 

Sales of BMS's ‘Baraclude (entecavir)’ decreased by 1% from KRW 35.3 billion to KRW 35.1 billion.

 

In addition, ‘Zeffix (lamivudine)’, ‘Besivo (besifovir)’, ‘Levovir (clevudine)’, and ‘Sebivo (telbivudine)’ all saw a decrease in prescriptions.

 

Hepsera (adefovir) has been completely withdrawn from the market since 2023.

 

Among the major products, while Viread and Baraclude saw a slowdown, Vemlidy was the only one to show an increase in its prescription sales, leading to changes in the market rankings.

 

Vemlidy ranked third in the market behind Viread and Baraclude until the first half of last year, but then surpassed Baraclude to move up to second place.

 

The gap with Viread narrowed from KRW 11 billion to KRW 7.2 billion in just one year.

 

Generic market also sees rapid growth of Vemlidy follow-on drugs...

 

accelerates market restructuring The same trend has been observed in the generic market.

 

Vemlidy generics are the only ones that showed continued growth.

 

The combined prescription amount for Vemlidy generics in the first half of this year was KRW 4.1 billion, more than double the KRW 2 billion recorded in the same period last year.

 

Although it showed a somewhat sluggish trend initially after its official launch in February 2023, its growth has accelerated since last year.

 

Sales of Samil Pharmaceutical's ‘Vemlino’ increased from KRW 9 billion in the first half of last year to KRW 18 billion in the first half of this year, while sales of Dong-A ST's ‘Vemlia’ increased from KRW 7 billion to KRW 13 billion, each more than doubling in sales.

 

The remaining products also saw their prescription sales increase by more than twofold.

 

On the other hand, Baraclude generics and Viread generics have seen a slowdown in their upward trend.

 

The combined prescription sales of Baraclude generics decreased by 3% from KRW 16.3 billion to KRW 15.8 billion over the past year.

 

Sales of Viread generics also decreased by 3% from KRW 7.2 billion to KRW 7 billion.

 

The industry expects that the market restructuring centered on Vemlidy will accelerate in both the original and generic markets.

 

This is because Bemliride has already been recommended as a first-line treatment by liver associations in the US, Europe, and South Korea.

 

In South Korea, its reimbursement has been approved for the treatment of non-cirrhotic liver cirrhosis and liver cancer since 2022.