Celltrion's Stekima Sold at Costco in the US

Contract Signed with Costco's Own PBM

Celltrion's autoimmune disease treatment 'Stekima' will be sold at Costco in the United States.

Stekima. Celltrion

On the 24th, Celltrion announced that on the 22nd (local time), it signed a listing contract for Stekima with 'Costco Health Solutions,' a prescription benefit manager (PBM) subsidiary of Costco, the third-largest distributor in the U.S. Through this, Stekima rebates will be available at pharmacies within Costco stores nationwide for PBM members and Costco employees.

In this contract, Stekima was listed as a preferred drug, successfully laying the foundation for early market dominance. Typically, drugs listed as preferred receive a higher ranking in insurance formularies, leading to prioritized prescriptions over competing products. Especially in the highly competitive biosimilar market, being listed as a preferred drug directly translates to a competitive advantage, so rapid market expansion of Stekima is expected.

Securing the market previously held by the original product through the Costco contract is also an achievement. With the contract, the original product, which was previously listed, will be excluded from the formulary, allowing Stekima to capture the market share held by that product, which is expected to accelerate prescriptions further.

Celltrion's U.S. subsidiary plans to intensify listing negotiations with other PBMs, including one of the top three PBMs currently in the final contract stage.

Thomas Nussbikel, Chief Commercial Officer of Celltrion's U.S. subsidiary, said, "As negotiations for Stekima listing contracts with major PBMs are entering the final stages, we expect to quickly continue expanding our achievements."

Meanwhile, Celltrion launched Stekima in the U.S. market on the 12th (local time) at a low wholesale price version discounted by 85% from the original product's wholesale acquisition cost (WAC). This strategy is evaluated as meeting diverse demands, including those of large PBMs, small and medium PBMs with low rebate negotiation power, and uninsured patients.