Celltrion's autoimmune disease treatment drug Yuflyma is accelerating the increase in product prescriptions through the expansion of supply channels, including becoming available for purchase at Costco, a major U.S. retailer.
Celltrion recently announced that Yuflyma has been registered in the Costco Member Prescription Program (CMPP) at a low Wholesale Acquisition Cost (WAC). CMPP is a program that allows Costco members to purchase pharmaceuticals at discounted prices at in-store pharmacies or pharmacies partnered with Costco. Through this program, starting this month, Costco members and their dependents can purchase Yuflyma at a discounted price based on the low wholesale price at Costco stores and partner pharmacies nationwide, even if they are not enrolled in health insurance.
According to the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) under the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the number of uninsured individuals without public or private health insurance in the U.S. reached 27.1 million as of the first quarter of this year. This represents an insurance blind spot, where access to treatment is significantly limited because patients must purchase expensive drugs like Yuflyma at wholesale prices without insurance support. However, going forward, uninsured patients who are Costco members will be able to receive Yuflyma, an original drug, at an additional discount on the low wholesale price, which is 85% cheaper compared to Humira.
Costco is a global top-tier retailer with over 133 million members worldwide and operates more than 600 stores in the U.S. alone. In the U.S. healthcare market, it is classified as a major supply channel for uninsured patients, making this announcement significant as it secures a major supply network outside of Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs). Especially through Costco, online purchases are possible, and its nationwide logistics system supplies pharmaceuticals directly to patients without going through wholesalers, which is expected to reduce intermediary costs and expand profitability.
Since the launch of Yuflyma in July last year, Celltrion has adopted a single pricing strategy with a wholesale price of $6,576.5 per month, which is only a 5% discount compared to Humira’s wholesale price of $6,922 per monthly dose. Then, in May, they introduced an additional low wholesale price product at $1,038 per month, representing an 85% discount.
This is a dual pricing policy tailored to the characteristics of the U.S. market. Since rebates are allowed in the U.S., insurers and others consider rebate rates when selecting drugs to be included in their formularies for their members. Typically, rebates are set as a percentage of the wholesale price, so the higher the wholesale price, the greater the profit for insurers or PBMs managing the formularies. Therefore, PBMs tend to prefer higher wholesale price products. However, due to various interests such as differences between public and private insurance, there are cases where lower wholesale price products are preferred, leading to a strategy of launching the same product with dual pricing.
Thomas Nusbickel, Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) of Celltrion USA, said, “We are pleased to collaborate with Costco, a major U.S. retailer, and expect that improved access to Yuflyma through CMPP will expand treatment options for patients and reduce medical costs. We will continue to strengthen our sales capabilities and efforts to improve patient access to healthcare to continuously supply high-quality biosimilars with price competitiveness in the world’s largest pharmaceutical market, the U.S.”
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