Trump Accelerates Drug Price Reduction Policy... Expected Benefits for K-Biosimilars

U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order aimed at reducing the burden of high-priced drugs by favoring biosimilars (biopharmaceutical generics). Domestic companies such as Celltrion and Samsung Bioepis are expected to benefit from this.

According to the pharmaceutical and bio industry on the 16th, U.S. President Donald Trump announced an executive order titled "Putting Americans First, Lowering Drug Prices Once Again" on the 15th (local time). The core content of this executive order is to promote policies to lower prescription drug prices for American patients.

The order includes provisions for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to simplify guidelines and approvals for biosimilars and encourage doctors to prescribe cheaper competing products. It also contains measures to pressure pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) by requiring them to disclose fees.

The acceleration of approvals for biosimilars and generics (synthetic drug generics) is also expected to benefit domestic companies. Celltrion and Samsung Bioepis are representative examples. Celltrion currently holds approvals for nine products and has launched seven, while Samsung Bioepis has received approval for ten biosimilars and launched six products.