[Pick]Celltrion flaps its wings in Korea and Europe in the wind of Corona 19

[FETV=김창수 기자] Celltrion, a leading bio company in Korea, is making a big success taking advantage of the new coronavirus infection (Corona 19) crisis as an opportunity. While Celltrion’s first Korean-made corona treatment,’Rekirona’, started supplying domestic medical institutions, the company presented a vision of achieving an annual output of 3 million people in the future.

Celltrion is expanding its sales channels overseas. Remsima SC, an autoimmune disease drug sold directly through Celltrion Healthcare, was launched in France. In the future, it plans to expand the range of its release to European countries such as Spain and Italy as well as France. Celltrion’s wide-ranging moves are expected to stimulate and revitalize the market for developing late-stage corona treatments in Korea, and to induce the promotion of targeting the European market, which is growing specially with Corona, overseas.

◆ Indigenous corona treatment Rekirona begins supplying… “Future production expansion” = Celltrion announced on the 17th that it will start supplying its first Corona 19 antibody treatment, Rekirona, to medical institutions in Korea. This is the result of a year after former Celltrion Group Chairman Seo Jeong-jin announced the development of a corona treatment last year. In addition, after obtaining approval from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety on the 5th, it was quickly supplied to front-line hospitals less than two weeks ago, adding significance. Celltrion Pharmaceutical, a subsidiary, is responsible for domestic supply.

Rekirona is provided free of charge to patients and can be obtained by filling out a supply request form directly from 156 designated Corona 19 treatment medical institutions nationwide and applying to Celltrion Pharmaceutical. Subjects to receive treatment are within 7 days from the date of onset of symptoms among patients diagnosed with COVID-19 based on the scope of approval from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, and those who do not require oxygen therapy are over 60 years of age, or those with underlying diseases such as cardiovascular disease, chronic respiratory disease, diabetes, hypertension, or He is a patient with pneumonia.

According to Celltrion, the production of Rekirona for 100,000 people has already been completed for the purpose of treating domestic patients. In addition, Celltrion said that it is planning to produce 1.5 to 3 million people annually depending on future demand.

◆ Targeting overseas markets with biosimilar products… Competitiveness = Celltrion, which took the first step in treating COVID-19 patients in Korea, is actively targeting the pharmaceutical market that has expanded due to’Corona Special’ in Europe. Celltrion announced on the 17th that the first prescription of Remsima SC (ingredient name Infliximab), which is sold directly through its subsidiary Celltrion Healthcare, was administered in France. Through this, Celltrion expects to expand its sales to the European region.

Remsima SC was launched locally at the beginning of this month, and Celltrion held a’Remsima SC launch press conference’ on the 11th to local media companies to introduce information and reveal future plans. At the presentation, Professor Laurent Peyrin-Birule, chairman of the European Society for Inflammatory Growth Diseases (ECCO) said, “With the launch of Remsima SC, the dream of infliximab subcutaneous injection for medical staff and patients has come true.”

Celltrion Healthcare is commenting that with the launch of Remsima SC, it will be equipped with customized treatment options according to the patient’s condition along with existing intravenous drugs.

An official from Celltrion Healthcare said, “Remsima SC is spreading a positive atmosphere in France, with prescriptions being taken from the first day of its launch.” “We plan to launch products in Spain and Italy in the first quarter of this year to finish launching products in five major European countries.” said. He also expressed confidence in expanding sales, saying, “We will expand the launch to Belgium, Portugal, and Finland at the same time.”

◆ Celltrion, a big success at home and abroad… “Corona Crisis as an Opportunity” = In the industry, Celltrion’s’broad move’ that encompasses both domestic and overseas is an evaluation that shows the will to seek a way for management by using the corona crisis as a crisis and opportunity. In addition, it is expected to play a role in invigorating the entire market. An official in the bio industry said, “Celltrion’s first corona treatment approval in Korea and its full-fledged supply could be a good stimulus for latecomers who are striving to develop the treatment.

It is also evaluated that the search for overseas markets is also suitable for targeting the global pharmaceutical market where pie has grown. According to’Research & Market’, a global market research institute, the size of CRO (Clinical Trial Trustee) in the European pharmaceutical market, which was $11.16 billion (about 1,260 billion won) in 2019, increased the incidence of diseases such as Corona 19, and increased medical expenses. As a result, it is expected to grow by 7.9% annually from 2020 to 2030. Therefore, the overall scale of the pharmaceutical market is also expected to increase, and the successive knocking of competitive products such as Remsima SC and Uplasma (Humira biosimilar) in the European market will be a timely target.