Celltrion: Remsima autoimmune drugs held 68% share in Europe last year
Celltrion said Monday that its treatments for autoimmune diseases and cancer continue to hold strong market share in Europe.
Citing IQVIA, the company said its Remsima product family for autoimmune diseases (IV and SC) posted a combined market share of about 68% in Europe as of the third quarter of last year.
Both the intravenous and subcutaneous formulations showed steady prescribing trends. Shares were 81% in France, 84% in the U.K. and 74% in Germany, among other European markets including the five major countries known as the EU5, the company said.
Celltrion said its autoimmune drug Yuflyma recorded a 24% share in Europe over the same period, keeping the top spot in prescriptions. In oncology, it said Vegzelma, used to treat metastatic colorectal cancer and breast cancer, ranked No. 1 in prescriptions with a 26% share in Europe over the same period.
SK Chemicals signs co-marketing deal with Kyungnam Pharm for allergic rhinitis drug
SK Chemicals said Monday it signed a joint sales agreement with Kyungnam Pharm for Nozeal soft capsules, an over-the-counter treatment for allergic rhinitis.
Under the deal, Kyungnam Pharm will handle sales and marketing to pharmacies for Nozeal, which SK Chemicals had been distributing through its pharmaceutical ordering platform. The product’s active ingredient is fexofenadine and is used to relieve allergic rhinitis symptoms caused by pollen and house dust, the company said.
Kyungnam Pharm said it has an 11-branch nationwide sales organization and a broad pharmacy distribution network.
Park Hyun Sun, head of SK Chemicals’ pharma business, said, “Building on the strengths of both companies, we will improve accessibility at pharmacies and expand our presence in the rhinitis treatment market.”
HLB Pharma says annual revenue tops 200 billion won for first time
HLB Pharma said Monday that, for the first time since its founding, its consolidated annual revenue exceeded 200 billion won.
In a regulatory filing on a change of 30% or more in revenue or profit structure (15% for large companies), HLB Pharma reported consolidated revenue of 205.6 billion won last year, up 50% from a year earlier. On a separate basis, revenue rose 12.7% to 154.5 billion won.
The company said the result doubles its 2022 revenue, when it first surpassed 100 billion won, in just three years. It added that it achieved double-digit growth even as contract manufacturing revenue was temporarily halted after it demolished its Hyangnam plant to build a new factory.
HLB Pharma said the performance was driven by the consolidation of results from Shinhwa Advance, which it acquired in April last year. It also cited a turnaround in both revenue and profit at its consumer health care division within two years of its launch.
Myung In Pharm approves 1,500 won cash dividend per share, pushes professional management structure
Myung In Pharm said Monday it is pursuing a shift from founder-led management to a co-CEO structure led by professional managers.
The company said it held a board meeting and disclosed that it decided to nominate Lee Kwan Soon, a vice chairman at Hanmi Pharmaceutical, and Cha Bong Kwon, president in charge of sales management at Myung In Pharm, as inside director candidates. The nominations will be submitted to the company’s 38th annual general meeting of shareholders on March 26, it said.
Under the plan, founder and chairman Lee Haeng Myung will step down as CEO and focus on advising the board, while professional managers take charge of operations, the company said.
The company said Lee Kwan Soon earned a bachelor’s degree in chemical education from Seoul National University and completed master’s and doctoral coursework in chemistry at KAIST. He has served as vice chairman, CEO and head of the research center at Hanmi Pharmaceutical, and later led the Korea Pharmaceutical and Bio-Pharma Manufacturers Association before becoming CEO of GID Partners.
Cha Bong Kwon graduated from Kyonggi University with a degree in German language and literature and rose through the company as head of the sales management division before taking his current role, the company said.