Hepatitis C market in decline due to superior treatment

Prescriptions last year fell 26.1% from the previous year to record ₩35.1 billion

Prescriptions decrease with the decreased number of hepatitis C patients

Performance of the market lead product Mavyret also in decline

The hepatitis C treatment market had contracted for two consecutive years since 2020.

 

The annual decline in the number of hepatitis C patients and the introduction of effective drugs is analyzed to have caused the contraction.

 

According to the market research institution UBIST on the 29th, outpatient prescription of hepatitis C treatments recorded ₩35.1 billion last year, which was a 26.1% decline from the previous year.

 

This is one-fourth the ₩135.2 billion that was made in outpatient prescriptions in 2017.

 

The market had been declining for the past 4 years, reducing 45.5% to ₩73.7 billion in 2018, then to ₩65 billion in 2019, and to ₩47.4 billion in 2020.

 

(DATA=UBIST)

The overall market contraction was due to the reduced prescription of the market’s lead product, Abbvie’s ‘Mavyret.’ Mavyret sold ₩26.3 billion last year, a 26.4% reduction from the 26.3 billion in the previous year.

 

Mavyret is a direct-acting antiviral (DAA) that was introduced in the market in the fourth quarter of 2018 that may be prescribed to all hepatitis C genotypes and has a cure rate of 99%.

 

The drug can be taken once daily in 3 tablets with food, and its administration period is 8 weeks, 4 weeks shorter than other treatments.

 

Mavyret had stood out in the market due to this differentiated effect at the time of its release, and sold ₩7.5 billion in prescriptions in only three months after its release.

 

In 2019, prescriptions soared to ₩44.5 billion, transforming the market.

 

However, since 2020, its prescription amount recorded ₩35.7 billion and fell 21.8% from the previous year.

 

This is due to the characteristic of hepatitis C treatments.

 

Hepatitis C is transmitted through exposure to an infected person’s blood.

 

Many are asymptomatic and patients find out their condition after disease progression, 80% of which develops chronic hepatitis C, and 20% to cirrhosis of the liver or liver cancer.

 

Also, the number of Hepatitis C patients has been decreasing every year.

 

According to the National Health Insurance Services, 8.647 new patients have been diagnosed with hepatitis C in 2020.

 

This is an 11.5% annual decrease in average from the 14,087 diagnosed in 2016.

 

With the number of patients reducing every year as such, the industry interprets that the market had to contract due to the introduction of a novel new drug that can fully cure the condition.

 

Also, other drugs have seen a decline in sales or withdrew from the market due to the introduction of Mavyret.

 

Gilead Science’s ‘Sovaldi’ sold 77% less than the previous year to record ₩210 million last year.

 

Sovaldi had been the lead product in the hepatitis C treatment market before the introduction of Mavyret.

 

Just in 2017, outpatient prescription of Sovaldi recorded ₩84.3 billion.

 

For example, sales of Abbvie's ‘Viekreia’ and ‘Exviera’ dropped sharply to reach an uncountable amount from 2020.

 

However, outpatient prescriptions of Sovaldi fell over half to ₩37.7 billion the next year.

 

In 2019, it once again dropped 89.7% from the previous year to record ₩3.9 billion.

 

Prescription of Gilead’s other hepatitis C treatment ‘Harvoni’ decreased 14.7% from the previous year to ₩8.1 billion.

 

This is over a half reduction from the ₩17.6 billion in 2017.

 

Another hepatitis C treatment, MSD’s ‘Zepatier’ was released in the second quarter of 2017, and recorded ₩30 billion in outpatient sales by 2018.

 

However, its demand fell sharply from the following year, losing the competition to Mavyret and Sovladi.

 

Last year, outpatient prescriptions for Zepatier recorded ₩430 million, a 61% drop the previous year.

 

BMS’s ‘Daklinza’ and ‘Sunvepra’ withdrew from the Korean market.

 

The two products had recorded a 15% share in the Hepatitis C treatment market in 2017, then continued to lose their share to Mavyret and Sovladi.

 

The products were discontinued supply in 2020, and BMS voluntarily withdrew the marketing authorization of the two products in March last year.