Demand for autoimmune disease treatments from Korea surge
Popular inexpensive generic drugs (biosimilars) to replace new drugs
[팜뉴스=이권구 기자] Demand for K-biopharmaceuticals is increasing rapidly in Germany. It has increased fivefold in two years.
According to the’Overseas Market Trend Report’ (Lim Daesung) released on the 2nd by the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA), the Frankfurt Trade Office, Germany, which has entered an aging society, is continuously increasing the demand for autoimmune disease treatments, and Korea, a latecomer in the bio-health sector Starting with biosimilar products, it is rapidly approaching the German market. In 2020, Germany became the country that bought the most products from Korea, beating the United States, Japan, and Turkey related to bio-immune products. The report predicted that Germany’s aging socialization and the possibility of developing a corona treatment will have a high potential for growth in the future. (Top graph=The percentage of Korean-made biopharmaceuticals purchased in 2020, reflecting statistics based on HS codes 300214 and 300215 in 2020, Source: Kita 2021.2.)
According to the report, Germany is struggling to treat patients with autoimmune diseases. Although Germany has been good at coping with underdeveloped diseases such as weakened immunity due to malnutrition through high-quality medical services and abundant meals from an early age, in the case of autoimmune diseases characterized by chronic infection, continuous drug treatment in an aging social environment is a problem of tolerance and cost. Because it causes.
Based on Germany’s 2019 population distribution, 23.78 million people, more than a quarter of the population, are over 60 years old. According to market research firm Technavio, consumers need alternative drugs in addition to existing new drugs, and at the same time, they are looking for biosimilar products, which are clones that can replace existing new drug products at a lower cost. For this reason, among the biosimilar products prescribed through German medical insurance, immunosuppressants were also ranked first in terms of sales. According to a report by BAH 2020, a pharmaceutical market research firm, biosimilar products worth $1.89 billion were prescribed and sold in 2019.
The more patients who have been prescribed better immunosuppressants, the more they are looking for alternative new drugs and biosimilar products, including resistance. In addition, German pharmaceutical companies are also increasing their purchases of related drug substances for bio-immune products. Against this backdrop, the report revealed that Korea’s K-Bio products are increasing their market share.
Imports of Korean-made bio-health immunity products (HS Code 300214, 300215) increased sharply
Korea began subdividing and managing BioHealth’s HS code in 2017. After that, detailed statistics were recorded. It is an immunity article and is administered under the HS codes 300214 and 300215.
It is divided according to whether the product is sold as a drug substance or packaged for sale. Immunosuppressants for autoimmune diseases are typical, and reports that domestic immunosuppressants have been effective as a treatment for COVID-19 patients received attention during the spread of Corona 19 in 2020. According to the GTA, more of Korea’s biohealth immunity products are imported from finished products to non-finished products. Germany’s import of Korean products was only $47.29 million in 2018, but in 2020, it imported $255.1 million, showing an increase of more than five times in two years. Not only large companies such as Celltrion, Samsung Bioepis, and Chong Kun Dang, but also mid-sized companies such as Hanall Biopharma, biopharmaceuticals and related technologies are gaining attention and performance.
The report said, “Among the analysis of Corona 19 that hit the world in 2020, a research team at Emory University in the United States published a study in Nature that Corona 19 has the nature of an autoimmune disease.” Immune product manufacturers have begun to introduce autoimmune treatments as a corona treatment, and accordingly, it is expected to advance not only as a treatment for existing autoimmune diseases but also as a treatment for Corona 19.”
In addition, “Korea has been exempted from the written confirmation of the manufacturing and quality control standard (GMP) as it has been listed on the EU whitelist from May 2019 in the case of exports to Europe for raw materials. ISO 15378:2017 certification, quality management system certification, ISO 9001:2015, and ISO 37001 certification related to anti-corruption management system are still preferred. It is said that marketing is important. If this is reflected, we believe that Korean therapeutics can expect continuous growth, such as expanding their market share in the German market.”
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