Hepatitis B treatment market shrinks with its major drugs’ sales

Entecavir and Tenofovir markets, both of which shared the hepatitis B treatment market, left poor performance.

In particular, the entecavir market showed poor performance in most of the top 10 drugs YoY, which have prescription sales of more than 500 million won in half a year.

Baraclude (BMS)’s semi-annual prescription sales were 32.8 billion won, down 2.1 billion won from the same period last year, and the monthly prescription sales have recently been reduced to less than 6 billion won.

Baracle (Dong-A ST), the largest product among generic drugs, has withdrawn from the 4 billion mark in semi-annual sales with 3.9 billion won.

The semi-annual prescription sales for Bukwang Entecavir (Bukwang Pharmaceutical) decreased from 2 billion won to 1.9 billion won, and Enped (Samil Pharmaceutical) also retreated from 1.7 billion to 1.4 billion won.

Baracross (Daewoong Pharmaceutical) and Cavir (Hanmi Pharmaceutical) were pushed back from 1.1 billion won to around 900 million won.

At the same time, Entecabell (Chong Kun Dang Pharmaceutical) expanded its sales by 100 million won, recording the only growth among entecavir drugs, which made more than 500 million won prescription sales per half-year.

The atmosphere of the tenofovir market is not very good either. Half of the eight drugs that recorded more than 500 million won showed growth in the semi-annual prescription sales, but only Vemlidy (Gilead Sciences) grew in June.

The semi-annual prescription sales of the leading Viread (Gilead Sciences) decreased by 2.9 billion won from 43.1 billion won to 40.2 billion won, barely keeping the 40 billion mark.

Virreal (Dong-A ST) and Tenofobell (Chong Kun Dang Pharmaceutical), which are the biggest generic drugs, have fallen from 1.5 billion won to 1.4 billion won, and Virehepa (Daewoong Pharmaceutical) has also dropped slightly.

On the other hand, Tecavir (Jeil Pharmaceutical) rose from 500 million won to 600 million won, and Pread (Bukwang Pharmaceutical) and Tenolid (Samjin Pharmaceutical) from 400 million won to 500 million won, but they also left slump results.

In the meantime, Vemlidy, which reduced the disadvantages of the existing tenofovir drugs, significantly increased the prescription sales from 2.4 billion to 3 billion won in June and expanded semi-annual sales from 12 billion to 15.5 billion won.

The existing Tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF) was tagged with concerns that it could adversely affect kidney and bone density.

In response, Vemlidy (Tenofovir Alafenamide, TAF) has overcome the shortcomings of TDF by improving the active substance of TDF, tenofovir, to be activated in lymphocytes.

At The Liver Week in May, a study found that TDF is less likely to develop kidney disease than entecavir drugs.