Celltrion Healthcare Launches Avastin Biosimilar 'Vegzelma' in Japan

Japan, World's 2nd Largest Bevacizumab Market
Sales Synergy Expected with 'Herzuma'

[Asia Economy Reporter Myunghwan Lee] Celltrion Healthcare announced on the 26th that it has launched the Avastin biosimilar 'Vegzelma' (generic name Bevacizumab) in Japan.

Vegzelma received marketing approval from the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) last September for major indications including metastatic colorectal cancer, non-small cell lung cancer, and metastatic breast cancer. The Japanese Bevacizumab market is approximately 900 billion KRW in size, making it the second largest market globally after the United States for a single country.

Celltrion Healthcare explained that for the cancer diseases targeted by Vegzelma in Japan, a stable market entry is expected due to the influence of the biosimilar-friendly Diagnosis Procedure Combination (DPC) system. In fact, Herzuma (generic name Trastuzumab), a biosimilar antibody for breast and gastric cancer indications, held a 57% market share in Japan as of the third quarter of last year. Since surpassing the original product in 2021, Herzuma has maintained the number one position in Trastuzumab prescriptions to date.

Celltrion Healthcare plans to leverage the experience and know-how gained from the sales of Herzuma to establish Vegzelma, a biosimilar in the same anticancer category, in the market. With the launch of Vegzelma expanding the product portfolio, marketing strategies such as package deals will become possible, and the company aims to expand prescriptions based on sales synergies with existing products.

A Celltrion Healthcare official stated, "In Japan, as population aging accelerates, interest in biosimilars that can alleviate the government's financial burden is steadily increasing. Due to the impact of COVID-19, hospital visits have decreased, raising the need for profitability improvement, and the expansion of biosimilar prescriptions utilizing the DPC system is continuing."

The official added, "As the newly launched Vegzelma is entering an environment where it can firmly establish itself in the Japanese market, we will devote all efforts to marketing activities to achieve successful prescription expansion based on the achievements built by Remsima and Herzuma."