Biotech Values

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Samsung Releases Arthritis Drug in First Foray Into U.S. Pharmaceuticals
Samsung Bioepis’s biosimilar drug for rheumatoid arthritis to be marketed by Merck in U.S.

By Timothy W. Martin and Jonathan D. Rockoff
Updated July 24, 2017 11:22 a.m. ET

Americans suffering from arthritis can now find relief from an unexpected new player in the pharmaceuticals market.

South Korea’s Samsung conglomerate, best known for its smartphones and televisions, will make available on Monday in the U.S. its lower-price copy of Johnson & Johnson ’s blockbuster rheumatoid-arthritis drug Remicade, the second such alternative on the market. The Samsung-developed drug will be marketed to health-care providers by Merck & Co.’s U.S. sales team and will be sold for about a 35% discount off Remicade’s current list price.

The move follows an April approval by the Food and Drug Administration. It is the Samsung business empire’s debut treatment in the world’s biggest drug market and reflects its desires to diversify beyond electronics.

Samsung Bioepis Co., the group’s new biotechnology company, is targeting the creation of near replicas of so-called branded biologic drugs, like Remicade, which are made out of living cells and address complex diseases including cancer or arthritis. These “biosimilars” are sold more cheaply than brand-name treatments that often cost tens of thousands of dollars a year.

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The lucrative biologic drug market will gradually open up as patent protections of those treatments expire, creating opportunities for biosimilars made by Samsung and others.

Samsung said in a statement its new drug, called Renflexis, would be priced at about $750 per vial.

Pfizer Inc. and partner Celltrion Inc. launched their own Remicade near-replica in November, selling it then at 15% below J&J’s list price. But J&J has said patients pay a significantly lower price for Remicade after discounts.

What remains unclear is to what extent U.S. doctors and patients will embrace these new types of medication amid concerns about the safety and efficacy of biosimilars.

A vial of J&J’s Remicade lists for more than $1,100, with a year’s treatment typically listed then at more than $30,000. It is among the top-selling drugs in the U.S. with $4.5 billion in sales last year.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/samsung-releases-lower-cost-alternative-to-johnson-johnsons-drug-remicade-1500898903