Sales of Samsung Bioepis Co.’s three autoimmune biosimilars – Benepali, Imraldi, Flixabi – in Europe in the first quarter dropped 6.3 percent on year, the company said Friday citing U.S. partner Biogen Inc.’s earnings report.

According to a report released by Biogen, who owns half of Korea-based biosimilar maker, the combined sales of the three biosimilar products in Europe stood at $205.1 million, down 6.3 percent on year but up 3.9 percent on quarter.

The downturn in the first quarter is due to the base effect from strong sales number of a year ago period due to surge in pre-orders from European hospitals and wholesalers, the company explained.

Benepali (etanercept), a biosimilar referencing Amgen/Pfizer’s Enbrel, generated sales of $121.7 million, falling 8.8 percent from a year ago. Benepali continues to command the largest 46 percent share in the European market.

Imraldi (adalimumab), referencing AbbVie`s Humira, saw a 6 percent decline in sales to $57.9 million, while Fixabi (infliximab), referencing Johnson & Johnson`s Remicade, posted growth of 7.6 percent to $25.5 million. The biosimilars hold 10 percent of the market, respectively.

Samsung Bioepis is a joint venture between Korea’s Samsung Biologics Co. and U.S.-based Biogen and its biosimilar sales are shared between Samsung Bioepis and Biogen.

By Pulse

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