- 8,310 vials prescribed in 2Q, recording a market share of 40.2%, around KRW 11.2 billion equivalent per year

- With the expansion of HIRA's health insurance benefits, combination therapy with "Pembrolizumab" gains a position for primary treatment for NSCLC

- "We will increase our market share by securing new patients through the expansion of health insurance benefits," according to President Lee Young-joon of Samyang Holdings

▲ Samyang Holdings Biopharmaceuticals Division's anticancer drug "Pemed S Inj." 1,000 mg/40 mL

Samyang Holdings plans to solidify the base of the anticancer drug market.

Samyang Holdings Biopharmaceuticals Division (President Lee Young-joon) announced on the 18th that its anticancer drug "Pemed S Inj." (active ingredient: Pemetrexed disodium 2.5 hydrate, hereinafter "Pemed S") achieved more than 40% of prescription shares among treatments with the same ingredients in the second quarter of this year. Pemed S is a treatment for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC)1) and malignant pleural mesothelioma2).

Data from IQVIA Korea, a big data analysis company in the healthcare industry, shows that 8,310 vials of Pemed S (based on 500 mg dose) were prescribed in the second quarter of this year, reaching a market share of 40.2%, which is equivalent to about KRW 11.2 billion per year. The total market size for this drug is roughly KRW 34.8 billion per year as of 2021.

According to President Lee, Pemed S has the largest market share, accounting for more than 80% of the generic injectable (generic drug) market with the same ingredient. "Pemed S is continuing to grow, with sales and quantity up 7.4% and 13.5%, respectively, YoY," he added.

Future interest in Pemed S is anticipated to rise steadily, after obtaining the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service (HIRA)'s approval in March of this year for the combination therapy of pemetrexed and "Pembrolizumab" as the primary treatment for NSCLC. Pembrolizumab is an immunotherapy that helps the body's immune system fight against cancer cells. The market base of Pemed S is also expected to expand in light of the recent increase in interest in combination therapy, which combines cancer immunotherapy with cytotoxic chemotherapy.

In response to the growing demand for Pemed S, Samyang Holdings Biopharmaceuticals Division is pushing to expand its sales network to regional medium- to large-size hospitals as well as large general hospitals in Seoul and metropolitan areas. Utilizing the benefits for combination therapy with Pembrolizumab as a primary treatment, the Division also plans to increase its market share by expanding health insurance benefits and securing new patients.

Pemed S, developed by Samyang Holdings Biopharmaceuticals Division in 2015, has adopted proprietary technology to ensure stability without the use of toxic antioxidants. The drug has improved both preparation convenience and drug stability by switching from powder formulations to liquid formulations. In addition, the Division lessened the economic burden on patients and helped lower the cost of insurance money after it has released the first and only 1,000 mg dose in Korea. In the case of Korean patients, about 900 mg of injectable drugs with the said ingredient is typically used for one administration. But since 500 mg was the maximum dose before the release of Pemed S, the remaining volume had to be discarded after administering two vials.

Meanwhile, Samyang Holdings Biopharmaceuticals Division is the only company in Korea to have obtained GMP certification for cytotoxic anticancer injections from both the EU and Japan. Based on its own production process with secured stability that enables reliable quality pharmaceutical manufacture, the Division exports active pharmaceutical ingredients and drug products to over 30 countries, including Germany and Japan. To date, a cytotoxic anticancer injection plant with a total capacity of 5 million vials, comprising 4 million liquid injection vials and 1 million freeze-dried injection vials, is under construction at Samyang Holdings' Daejeon plant site.