Daewoong said Monday that it has started to supply Samfenet, a trastuzumab biosimilar (Original: Herceptin), to local medical institutions.

Samfenet

Herceptin is one of the most purchased biomedicine with an estimated 7.8 trillion won ($6.9 billion) in sales. It has applications for early and metastatic breast cancer and metastatic gastric cancer. The Ministry of Drug and Food Safety approved the domestic sales of Samfenet on Nov. 8 last year.

With the launch of Samfenet, Daewoong has secured a line of anticancer drugs, which include Samsung Bioepis’ Samfenet, Ilyang Pharmaceutical’s Supect and Luphere Depot injection.

Daewoong, which has experience in making Luphere Depot into a blockbuster drug with annual sales of 20 billion won, plans to use its previous four-step marketing strategy along with its strong sale bases in making Samfenet into a blockbuster drug.

The launch of Samfenet has expanded the alternative treatment options for both medical professionals and patients. Also, the company will sell Samfenet 29.5 percent cheaper than the original, which is expected to improve patients' drug accessibility and reduce national health insurance finances.

“Samfenet has won global recognition through the European Commission's (EC) certification,” said Lee Jong-wook, vice-president of Daewoong. “Daewoong Pharmaceutical’s sales right of Samfenet does not mean a mere increase in the number of drugs for the company, but a full-fledged pledge to enter into the anticancer drug market.”

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