Boryung’s Gemzar switches to domestic production

withdraws its import permit

Boryung Gemcitabine HCl Injection changes its name to the original, ‘Gemzar’

In 2 years since Boryung Pharmaceutical acquired the domestic rights for Lilly’s anticancer treatment ‘Gemzar (gemcitabine HCl)’ in Korea, the company switched all its items to domestic productions.

 

According to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, Boryung Pharmaceutical withdrew its import license for ‘Gemzar’ on the 21st, and switched the name of its domestic generic ‘Boryung Gemcitabine HCl Injection’ to the original name, ‘Gemzar,’ The company had co-promoted Lilly Korea’s Gemzar since 2014 and signed an agreement to transfer and acquire the rights of Gemzar, an anticancer treatment, in the local market with Eli Lilly in May 2020.

 

Under the agreement, Boryung Pharmaceutical acquired the total rights of Gemzar in Korea including its sales and marketing authorization rights from the US company.

 

Boryung and Lilly had been co-promoting Gemzar in Korea since 2015 Gemzar is indicated as a mono- or combination therapy in the first- and second-line treatment for pancreatic cancer, non-small cell lung cancer, bladder cancer, breast cancer, ovarian cancer, and biliary tract cancer.

 

According to the market research firm IQIVA, Gemzar had sold ₩9.5 billion in 2016, which increased by around ₩3 billion in 5 years to record ₩12.44 billion in 2020.

 

Gemzar’s sales account for 2-3% of Boryung’s total pharmaceutical sales every year, and sales are expected to increase due to cost reduction with the company converting all its imported products to domestic productions.

 

Since 2019, Boryung had started driving the anticancer drug business and tripled its existing anticancer drug production facilities with the completion of its Yesan plant.

 

Boryung plans to accelerate its anticancer drug business by introducing new products and expanding co-promotion products.

 

Last year, the company had signed another contract to acquire and transfer assets for the schizophrenia treatment Zyprexa (olanzapine) with Lilly.

 

Zyprexa had raised ₩14 billion in the domestic olanzapine market last year and is the No.1 prescribed product that holds a 50% share of the market.

 

The agreement was made as part of Boryung’s LBA strategy it announced while conducting a capital increase of ₩98.5 billion in July last year.

 

In addition to Gemzar and Zyprexa, Boryung plans to expand its portfolio by acquiring the domestic marketing approval of off-patent anticancer drugs that raise around ₩15 billion every year.

 

Currently, the company is selecting candidates for digestive cancer, women's cancer, blood cancer, and lung cancer, and will also work to individual develop new anticancer drugs in the long term to strengthen its anticancer drug lineup.