Even through an onslaught of biosimilar launches that began early last year, AbbVie’s big-selling Humira has been able to retain most of its lucrative market. Still, though, the drug’s star power is on the decline.
Biosimilar manufacturer Samsung Bioeps has tracked the impact of Humira biosim launches in its latest market report, finding that Humira’s slice of the market has dropped to 82%.
Sandoz’ Hyrimoz, under its Cordavis co-label, is responsible for “most biosimilar gains,” according to the report. Cordavis is CVS Health’s new biosimilar subsidiary, which launched with Hyrimoz as its first product.
Back in April, CVS Caremark removed branded Humira from its national commercial formularies, causing Hyrimoz prescriptions to skyrocket, analysts at Evercore ISI noted at the time. Through April 25, Hyrimoz was responsible for 82% of Humira biosimilar prescriptions, IQVIA data revealed. The successful launch has so far pushed Sandoz to revenue gains of 6% during the first quarter.
AbbVie, for its part, also linked up with Cordavis on a co-branded version of Humira. That product holds about a quarter of the market for Cordavis-labeled products, according to Samsung Bioepis' report.
As for pricing, Coherus BioSciences’ Yusimry and Samsung Bioepis’ Organon-partnered Hadlima offer the lowest wholesale acquisition cost, with price tags around 86% lower than Humira, according to Samsung Bioepis.
Besides offering steep discounts, many companies have employed a dual pricing strategy. Boehringer Ingelheim’s interchangeable Humira biosim Cyltezo, for example, launched as a branded option with a 5% discount from Humira and as an unbranded version with an 81% markdown. Some payers prefer higher list prices so they can extract more in rebates.
As of April, though, BI's Cyltezo only picked up 1,487 prescriptions since its July 2023 launch, compared with almost 2.8 million Humira prescriptions in that same time, Reuters has reported, citing from IQVIA data. The slow launch even prompted layoffs at Boehringer in the Cyltezo customer-facing team as the group pivoted toward a hybrid model.
The performance shows that even at a stark discount, competing with an entrenched, high-selling product like Humira is no easy task. Back in September, a Spherix Global Insights analysis revealed that prescribers had not yet “wholly warmed to these newcomers,” with dermatologists in particular showing the “highest degree of stated resistance to change.”
Over at AbbVie, the company had long been planning to pivot to its newer immunology meds Skyrizi and Rinvoq to pick up the slack from Humira’s declining sales. Last year, Humira sales fell to $14.4 billion after a record $21.2 billion during the prior year. Most recently, Humira sales tanked 40% during the first quarter as Skyrizi nearly caught up with a $2 billion quarterly haul.