Shingrix lead mkt again…shakes shingles vaccine mkt

Three shingles vaccines raise KRW 19.5 billion in Q3… 71% increase YoY

Shingrix has led the market for 2 consecutive quarters…occupies 51% of the market with its strong prevention effect despite its high price

The annual KRW 40 billion shingles vaccine market has shown rapid changes.

 

GlaxoSmithKline's (GSK) new shingles vaccine 'Shingrix' took an unrivaled lead in the Korean market.

 

Shingrix’s market share exceeded 50% this quarter powered by its strong preventive effect despite its high price.

 

According to the market research institution IQVIA on the 22nd, the market for preventive vaccines for shingles in Q3 was KRW 19.5 billion last year, up 70.5% YoY.

 

The shingles vaccine market, which had posted quarterly sales of around KRW 10 billion last year, had increased greatly this year.

 

The shingles vaccine market grew 147.0% YoY to record KRW 21.9 billion in Q1 this year, then again rose 124.1% to post KRW 23.5 billion in Q2 this year.

 

The new vaccine Shingrix drove the market expansion.

 

Shingrix, which started vaccinations in December last year, showed off its presence by occupying 28.9% of the market with sales of KRW 6 billion in Q1 this year.

 

In Q2, the drug quickly rose to lead the shingles vaccine market with sales of KRW 11.1 billion.

 

Shingrix's share of the shingles vaccine market in Q3 reached 50.5% and continued on its unrivaled lead in the market.

 

Sales of shingles prevention vaccine (Unit: KRW 100 mil, Data: IQVIA)

The greatest benefit of Shignrix is its strong shingles prevention effect.

 

In a Phase III clinical trial (ZOE-50) that was conducted on adults aged over 50 years of age, Shingrix showed a 97.2% efficacy compared to the non-vaccinated group at 3.2 years of follow-up, and in another Phase III clinical trial (ZOE-70) conducted on adults aged 70 years and above, Shingrix showed an 89.8% efficacy at 3.7 years of follow up.

 

This is superior to the 5% protection in adults aged over 50 years of age and 41% in adults aged 70 years and above demonstrated with the use of Zostavax.

 

The prevention rate of SKYZoster is also known to be similar to Zostavax.

 

Also, Shingrix’s safety profile was confirmed through 5 clinical trials that were conducted on immunocompromised patients aged 18 years and older.

 

Based on such evidence, patients who received autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation or those with solid cancer, blood cancer, or solid organ transplant patients who have an increased risk of shingles are also eligible to receive vaccination with Shingrix.

 

At the time of its release, Shingrix's significantly higher price than existing vaccines was pointed to as an obstacle to the vaccine’s early settlement into the market.

 

vaccines.

 

The price of Shingrix, which is administered two times in total, is set at around KRW 500,000 to 600,000.

 

This is more than twice as high as the existing vaccine, which costs KRW 150,000 to 200,000.

 

However, Shingrix rapidly increased its market share in the market thanks to its superior efficacy despite the high price.

 

Also, the sales support from 2 domestic pharmaceutical companies contributed to Shingrix’s rapid market penetration.

 

GSK started domestic sales of Shingrix in partnership with two companies, GC Biopharma and Kwangdong Pharmaceutical.

 

Existing shingles vaccine products such as SkZzoster and Zostavax saw slower sales growth.

 

SK Bioscience’s SKYZoster’s sales in Q3 were KRW 5.1 billion, which is a 5.0% decrease YoY.

 

SKYZoster’s had led the shingles market in Q1 and Q2 this year but then lost the lead to Shingrix.

 

SKYZoster is a shingles vaccine developed by SK Bioscience with its proprietary technology.

 

The vaccine has proven its non-inferiority compared to its competitor (Zostavax) in adults aged 50 or older in 8 domestic clinical institutions.

 

In October 2017, SK Bioscience obtained approval for SKYZoster from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety for 'preventing shingles in adults over the age of 50'.

 

Before its approval, MSD's Zostavax was the only vaccine available in the market.

 

Before then, the market was dominated by MSD's Zostavax, but the introduction of SKYZoster has converted the market into a competitive system.

 

However, as SKYZoster’s price is less than half of that of Shingrix, there have been estimates that the actual amount of vaccinations made could be larger for SKYZoster than for Shingrix.

 

Zostavax’s sales in Q3 had fallen 25.6% YoY to record KRW 4.5 billion.

 

Zostavax’s in Q1 this year rose by 18.9% YoY to reach KRW 6 billion but then fell in Q2 and Q3.

 

Zostavax gave up its lead to SKYZoster in Q4 last year and then was even surpassed by Shingrix, ranking 3rd in the market.

 

Zostavax's market share in Q2 had only been 23.0%.