Shingrix dominates herpes zoster vaccine market…66% share

Q1 shingles vaccine market reaches record high of KRW 30.9 billion

Shingrix leads the market since its launch... quarterly sales of KRW 20.4 billion

SK Bioscience’s SKYZoster also on the rise…occupies half of sales market share

The herpes zoster vaccine market, now worth approximately KRW 100 billion a year, continues to be led by ‘Shingrix.’ Despite being the newest entrant, the vaccine has captured nearly two-thirds of total market revenue. Meanwhile, Korea-developed vaccine SKYZoster has also maintained steady growth, accounting for nearly half of total vaccine doses sold.

According to IQVIA, Korea's herpes zoster vaccine market reached KRW 30.9 billion in Q1, up 25.9% YoY. Quarterly sales exceeded KRW 30 billion for the first time, marking the largest quarterly market size ever recorded. Compared with KRW 8.9 billion in Q1 2022, the market has expanded more than threefold over the past four years.

The rapid expansion is attributed to growing public awareness of the need for shingles prevention. GSK's recombinant vaccine Shingrix is widely regarded as the primary driver of market growth.

 

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During Q1, Shingrix generated KRW 20.4 billion in sales, a 32.5% increase YoY. Since its launch in December 2022, the vaccine has enjoyed strong market acceptance thanks to its superior preventive effect.

Shingrix's greatest strength lies in its high efficacy. In the ZOE-50 trial involving adults aged 50 years and older, it demonstrated 97.2% efficacy over a median follow-up of 3.2 years. In the ZOE-70 study involving adults aged 70 years and older, efficacy remained 89.8% after 3.7 years of follow-up. By comparison, Zostavax showed efficacy of 51% in adults aged 50 years and older and 41% in those aged 70 years and older. SKYZoster has demonstrated efficacy comparable to that of Zostavax.

Shingrix has also confirmed its safety profile through 5 clinical studies involving immunocompromised adults aged 18 years and older. Based on these data, vaccination is indicated for high-risk immunocompromised populations, including recipients of autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplants, patients with solid tumors or hematologic malignancies, and solid organ transplant recipients.

After immediately taking the top spot in the market with quarterly sales of KRW 11.1 billion in Q2 2023, Shingrix has maintained its lead and strong growth trajectory.

Initially, some observers argued that Shingrix's premium price could hinder early market adoption. The two-dose regimen costs approximately KRW 400,000-500,000, more than twice the KRW 150,000-200,000 price of conventional vaccines at the time. Nevertheless, its superior efficacy has enabled rapid expansion of market share despite the higher price.

As of Q1, Shingrix accounted for 66.2% of total market revenue, representing roughly two-thirds of the entire shingles vaccine market.

Meanwhile, the Korean SKYZoster has also posted encouraging growth.

SK Bioscience reported KRW 10.4 billion in Q1 sales for SKYZoster, representing a 47.3% YoY increase and marking the vaccine's first-ever quarterly sales exceeding KRW 10 billion.

SKYZoster is a live attenuated shingles vaccine developed using SK Bioscience's proprietary technology. In a domestic clinical trial conducted at eight medical institutions involving adults aged 50 years and older, the vaccine demonstrated non-inferiority to the reference product, Zostavax.

SK Bioscience received approval from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety in October 2017 for the ‘prevention of herpes zoster in adults aged 50 years and older.’ At that time, the market had been dominated by MSD's Zostavax, but it has shifted to a competitive system with the introduction of SKYZoster.

After posting sales of KRW 9.5 billion in Q1 2023, SKYZoster’s quarterly revenue dropped below half that level to KRW 3.9 billion in Q1 2024 before recovering its growth. Sales exceeded KRW 7 billion in Q1 last year, and this year, it has broken a new record for the first time in three years.

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Although SKYZoster generated only about half the sales of Shingrix during Q1, thanks to its relatively lower price, it showed a comparable market share in terms of sales volume.

SKYZoster accounted for 49.7% of total vaccine doses sold during Q1, compared with 50.3% for Shingrix. SKYZoster’s share has risen dramatically from 28.5% in Q1 2024, an increase of more than 20 percentage points over two years.

Industry observers believe SKYZoster has absorbed a substantial portion of demand left behind following the withdrawal of Zostavax from the market.

MSD Korea decided to discontinue Zostavax supply in June 2024 and voluntarily withdrew its marketing authorization in October of the same year.

Approved in Korea in 2009, Zostavax was the country's first homegrown shingles vaccine that effectively opened the domestic market. It reached peak annual sales of KRW 83.7 billion in 2017. However, its position gradually weakened after the launch of domestically developed vaccines in 2018, and Shingrix further accelerated the decline. No sales have been recorded since Q3 last year.