(LEAD) Sales of Samsung Bioepis' 3 biosimilars reach $200 million in Europe in Q1

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By Kim Han-joo

SEOUL, April 23 (Yonhap) -- South Korean drugmaker Samsung Bioepis Co. said Thursday that sales of its three biosimilar products posted a record high of US$200 million in Europe during the first quarter.

Combined sales of the three autoimmune biosimilars -- Benepali, Flixabi and Imraldi -- came to $219 million in the January-March period, up 25 percent from the same period a year earlier.

The company cited a first-quarter earnings report of its U.S. partner Biogen. Samsung Bioepis is a joint venture between Samsung Biologics -- a biopharmaceutical unit of South Korea's top conglomerate Samsung Group -- and Biogen.

Biogen said sales of Benepali, a biosimilar based on Enbrel developed by U.S.-based Amgen Inc., reached $133.5 million for the quarter, a gain of 8 percent on-year. The drug is used in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis.

The company said sales of Flixabi, used to relieve rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, jumped by 61 percent from a year earlier to $23.7 million. The drug was originally developed by Janssen Pharmaceutical.

Sales of Imraldi, a copy of Humira by AbbVie Inc., skyrocketed 73 percent on-year to $61.6 million. The drug is used to combat various immune diseases.

The market share of Imraldi continued to increase to account for about 10 percent on the continent.

In Europe, Samsung Bioepis sells three biosimilars in addition to breast cancer biosimilar Ontruzant that references Switzerland-based Roche Holding's Herceptin, also known as Trastuzumab.

Global health care company MSD, responsible for marketing and distributing Ontruzant in Europe, does not release revenues of individual products.

khj@yna.co.kr
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