CAR-T treatments, Yescarta surpasses KRW 500 billionㆍCarvykti KRW 200 billion
ADC, Trodelvy and Polivy sales head for KRW 400 billion
[Newsmp] The market for high-priced drugs, such as immuno-oncology drugs, antibody-drug conjugate (ADCs), and CAR-T cell therapies, continues to grow at an accelerated pace.
According to recent quarterly reports from major global pharmaceutical companies, key immunotherapy drugs recorded double-digit growth rates in the third quarter.
Following its surpassing of KRW 8 trillion in the second quarter, Keytruda (MSD) achieved a remarkable growth rate of 16.8% in the third quarter, enlarging its sales to KRW 8.4 trillion. (Based on the exchange rate as of November 10)
After showing a stagnant performance since surpassing KRW 2.9 trillion in the fourth quarter of last year, Opdivo (BMS) also exceeded the KRW 3 trillion mark with a growth rate of 11.1%.
Imfinzi (AstraZeneca) approached the KRW 1.5 trillion mark with a growth rate of over 50%, and Yervoy (BMS) also reached the KRW 800 billion mark with a double-digit growth rate.
BMS's Opdualag, a combination of Opdivo and LAG-3 antibody relatlimab, nearly doubled in size, expanding its sales by nearly KRW 220 billion, and Lilly's Tyvyt also grew by nearly 50%, surpassing KRW 150 billion.
In contrast, Tecentriq (Roche) has seen its sales stagnate, remaining at the KRW 1.3 trillion level for the past three consecutive quarters, after expanding to KRW 1.5 trillion in the fourth quarter of last year.
In the CAR-T cell therapy market, outcomes vary for different products. The largest product Yescarta (Gilead) has maintained its growth rate of over 20% for two consecutive quarters, exceeding KRW 500 billion, while Kymriah (Janssen), which entered the market last year, has surpassed 200 billion in just over a year.
Tecartus (Gilead) also remained on a growth streak, expanding by 18.5% in the third quarter.
Breyanzi grew by more than double compared to the same period last year, reaching KRW 120 billion, but fell short of the previous quarter's results.
Furthermore, Kymriah (Novartis) and Abecma (BMS) have been experiencing a recent decline in growth. Kymriah, reaching its peak at KRW 180 billion in the fourth quarter of last year, declined to the KRW 160 billion range in the third quarter, while Abecma also contracted from the KRW 190 billion range in the first quarter to the KRW 120 billion range in the third quarter.
In the antibody-drug conjugate market, there are differences in performance between products. Kadcyla (Roche) has remained in the early KRW 700 billion range for four consecutive quarters since exceeding KRW 800 billion in the second quarter of last year.
Besponsa (Pfizer) also showed a flat performance after exceeding KRW 70 billion in the second quarter of last year and declined by 1.9% in the third quarter.
On the other hand, Trodelvy (Gilead) grew by 57.2%, Polivy (Roche) by 123.0%, approaching the KRW 400 billion mark, and Enhertu (AstraZeneca) by more than 200%, approaching the KRW 100 billion mark.
Within the SMA treatment market, where recent growth has slowed, Spinraza (Biogen) has held the top spot, and Evrysdi (Roche) has expanded its lead over Zolgensma (Novartis).
Spinraza, which had recently seen its growth stagnate, recorded sales of about KRW 590 billion in the third quarter, up 4.0% from the same period last year.
After steadily expanding its size to surpass KRW 500 billion in the first quarter, Evrysdi's performance faltered in the second quarter, falling short of the first quarter's results. However, Evrysdi managed to regain some momentum in the third quarter, expanding its sales once again, but still falling short of its first-quarter performance.
Zolgensma, which has been hovering in the early KRW 400 billion range since the fourth quarter of last year, saw its sales decline by 3.4% year-on-year, widening the gap with Evrysdi by more than KRW 100 billion.
