바이오스펙테이터

바이오스펙테이터 Jongwon Jang 기자

Pricing Competitiveness Over Original Product Herceptin

Celltrion Healthcare, an affiliated company of Celltrion Holdings, announced September 15 that some hospitals in Korea have been prescribing Herzuma, an anticancer antibody biosimilar to treat breast cancer, since August of this year.

Celltrion obtained market approval for its cancer treatment biosimilar mAb Herzuma (trastuzumab) from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety in January 2014. Celltrion Healthcare has embarked on local marketing of Herzuma after it was listed in Korea’s health insurance system in April of this year.

Herzuma is available in two strengths: 150 mg and 440 mg.

According to the company, Herzuma 440 mg is intended for enhancing better convenience on the part of patients and physicians, and for lessening government’s healthcare burden. Health insurance prices of Herzuma 150 mg and 440 mg are set at 372,692 won and 893,531 won, respectively. The price level of Herzuma 150 mg is reduced by 10%, when compared to Herceptin 150 mg (414,103 won).

Celltrion Healthcare officials commented: “Herzuma’s launch is good news for early-stage breast cancer patients with no benefits of health insurance (HER2-positive, Stage I cancer, tumor size of <1cm, no metastasis to lymph node), in particular, those hindered by the high cost of such originator HER2 antibody biopharmaceuticals such as Herceptin.”