Truxima (rituximab), Celltrion's blood cancer treatment. [Celltrion]
Truxima (rituximab), Celltrion's blood cancer treatment. [Celltrion]

Celltrion's blood cancer treatment Truxima (rituximab) has cemented its leading position in the United States — the world's largest pharmaceutical market — by holding the top market share for four consecutive months.

According to IQVIA, a pharmaceutical market research firm, Truxima captured a 38.6% share of the US market in May, maintaining its No. 1 prescription ranking for four straight months since February. The share has grown 2.8 percentage points from February, when the drug first claimed the top spot, widening its lead over competing products including the originator.

Truxima is the first South Korean biosimilar to reach No. 1 market share in the United States. It has demonstrated Celltrion's technological capabilities by outpacing global pharmaceutical giants in a market that accounts for roughly half of worldwide pharmaceutical sales.

The growth trajectory is expected to continue. Earlier this month, Truxima became the first rituximab biosimilar to receive interchangeability designation from the US Food and Drug Administration, allowing it to be substituted for the originator drug at the pharmacy level without a new prescription. The designation is expected to accelerate Truxima's penetration into the roughly 20 percent of the market still held by the originator.

Other key products are also performing well in the US. Inflectra (infliximab, marketed in the US as Remsima), a treatment for autoimmune diseases, held a leading 30.4% share over the same period. Steqeyma (13.3%), Vegzelma (10.6%) and Yuflyma (8.1%) also posted steady share growth.

Celltrion plans to launch Aptozma in a subcutaneous formulation and Omriclo in the US market in the second half of this year, strengthening its lineup of high-margin follow-on products. The company intends to leverage the pharmacy benefit manager networks it has built through existing autoimmune disease product sales to secure rapid market entry.

"Building on the sales performance of Truxima and our other key products, we will do our utmost to establish an early foothold in the US market for the high-margin follow-on products set for launch in the second half," a Celltrion official said.


silverpaper@heraldcorp.com