Immunosuppressant market rapidly expands in 3yrs in KOR

Chong Kun Dang’s performance stands out

Sales of tacrolimus formulations have repeatedly expanded by over 10% annually since 2023

Over the past three years, cyclosporine has increased by 25% and mycophenolate by 67%

Chong Kun Dang’s Tacrobel, My-Rept, and Cipol-N lead the immunosuppressant market

The market for major immunosuppressants such as tacrolimus, cyclosporine, and mycophenolate has rapidly expanded over the past three years.

 

The related market grew relatively slowly at less than 5% until 2022, but since 2023, it has expanded by more than 10% a year, showing a sharp growth trend.

 

The tacrolimus and mycophenolate markets also showed continued growth in the first half of this year.

 

By company, Chong Kun Dang’s performance is standing out in all three ingredients.

 

In the cyclosporine and mycophenolate markets, Chong Kun Dang’s Cipol-N and My-Rept are dominating with over half of the market share.

 

In the tacrolimus market, the company has been ranking second.

 

The once-dormant tacrolimus immunosuppressant market grows rapidly from 2023 According to a report by the pharmaceutical market research institution UBIST on the 8th, the outpatient prescription sales of tacrolimus-containing immunosuppressants in the first half of this year amounted to KRW 34.9 billion.

 

This represents a 10% increase from the KRW 31.7 billion in the first half of last year.

 

Tacrolimus is a calcineurin inhibitor class immunosuppressant.

 

It is primarily used to suppress rejection reactions after liver, kidney, and bone marrow transplants, as well as to treat autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and lupus nephritis.

 

In the outpatient prescription market, prescriptions for the treatment of autoimmune diseases account for the majority of sales.

 

Quarterly tacrobel prescriptions (Unit: KRW 100 million, Source: UBIST)

This market had been growing steadily until 2022.

 

The tacrolimus immunosuppressant market, which was worth KRW 45 billion in 2020, increased by 7% to KRW 48.4 billion the following year.

 

It then increased by 6% to KRW 51.2 billion in 2022.

 

However, growth accelerated after 2023.

 

In 2023, prescriptions reached KRW 59.3 billion, a 16% increase from the previous year.

 

Last year, the market grew by an additional 10% to KRW 65.2 billion.

 

The market also grew 10% in the first half of this year, continuing the recent high growth trend.

 

Compared to the first half of 2022, before the growth rate accelerated, the market has expanded by 44% from KRW 23.7 billion to KRW 34.9 billion in just three years.

 

Cyclosporine market up 25% in three years...

 

Mycophenolate jumps 67% Another calcineurin inhibitor immunosuppressant, cyclosporine, also showed a similar trend.

 

Cyclosporine has similar indications to tacrolimus and is widely used for suppressing rejection reactions after organ transplants in the liver, kidney, heart, lung, and pancreas, as well as for autoimmune diseases such as psoriasis, rheumatoid arthritis, aplastic anemia, and nephrotic syndrome.

 

Eye drops containing the same ingredient are used to treat conjunctivitis.

 

However, they were excluded from this survey that researched immunosuppressants.

 

This market also saw rapid growth after 2023.

 

Until then, prescriptions had remained in the KRW 30 billion range, posting KRW 28,4 billion in 2020, KRW 30 billion in 2021, and KRW 29.3 billion in 2022.

 

However, it increased by 9% year-on-year to KRW 31.8 billion in 2023, and further expanded by 13% to KRW 35.8 billion last year.

 

In the first half of this year, prescription sales reached KRW 17.7 billion.

 

Compared to KRW 14.2 billion in the first half of 2022, this represents a 25% increase in three years.

 

Quarterly cyclosporine prescriptions (Unit: KRW 100 million, Source: UBIST)

Mycophenolate, an anti-metabolite class immunosuppressant, also showed a sharp growth trend around 2023.

 

The mycophenolate market showed fluctuations until 2022, posting KRW 12.7 billion in 2020, KRW 11.7 billion in 2021, and KRW 12.8 billion in 2022.

 

However, in 2023, it increased by 20% year-on-year to KRW 15.4 billion, and last year, it increased by 19% to KRW 18.4 billion.

 

In the first half of this year, it recorded KRW 10.1 billion in prescriptions.

 

Compared to KRW 6 billion in the first half of 2022, it increased by 67% in three years.

 

Quarterly mycophenolate prescriptions (Unit: KRW 100 million, Source: UBIST)

Chong Kun Dang leads the immunosuppressant market...

 

The combined prescription sales of the three products reached KRW 28.3 billion in the first half of the year By company, Chong Kun Dang is making a presence in all three immunosuppressant ingredient markets.

 

Chong Kun Dang’s combined prescription sales of Tacrobel, Cipol-N, and My-Rept in the first half of this year reached KRW 28.3 billion, a 5% increase from the same period last year.

 

In the tacrolimus market, Chong Kun Dang’s Tacrobel ranked second after Astellas's Prograf.

 

Tacrobel's prescription sales for the first half of this year reached KRW 8.7 billion, a 7% increase from the KRW 8.2 billion in the same period last year.

 

During the same period, Astellas' Prograf sales increased by 13%, from KRW 16.3 billion to KRW 18.4 billion.

 

In the cyclosporine market, Chong Kun Dang’s Cipol-N dominates the market with over half of the market share.

 

Cipol-N’s prescription sales for the first half of the year were KRW 12.8 billion, maintaining a similar level to last year.

 

Its market share stands at 73%.

 

Novartis' Sandimmune Oral recorded prescription sales of KRW 2.6 billion in the first half of the year.

 

In the mycophenolate market, Chong Kun Dang’s My-Rept also maintained its dominant position with a 67% market share.

 

My-Rept’s first-half prescription sales reached KRW 6.8 billion, a 12% increase from the KRW 6.1 billion recorded in the same period last year.

 

During the same period, Roche's CellCept increased by 15% from KRW 1.6 billion to KRW 1.9 billion, while sales of Novartis' Myfortic rose from KRW 800 million to KRW 1 billion.