The local shingles vaccine market is shrinking fast as the Covid-19 pandemic prolongs.
According to IQVIA, a drug market research firm, the size of the shingles vaccine market in the second quarter stood at 9.2 billion won ($7.8 million), down 59.1 percent from 22.6 billion won in the same period of last year. Cumulative sales in the first half-year also declined 42.2 percent to 20.1 billion won.
Currently, two shingles vaccines are available in Korea, MSD's Zostavax and SK Bioscience's Skyzoster.
The shingles vaccine market contraction was a turnaround from a few years ago when the market saw rapid growth after the launch of Skyzoster ended the market monopoly of Zostavax. As the Skyzoster gradually increased its influence, the market size expanded to 27.9 billion won in the fourth quarter of 2019.
However, the successful shingles vaccine market has been on a rollercoaster ride since the Covid-19 hit the world about one-and-a-half years ago.
Sales in the first quarter of last year, when the market began to feel the impact of Covid-19, halved to 12.2 billion won. While the market showed signs of recovery by recording 22.6 billion won in the second quarter of last year, it fell back to 20.3 billion won in the third quarter and 17.3 billion won in the fourth quarter.
This year, the decline has become steeper, and the two products have slumped to the lowest level since they formed a competitive structure.
Industry experts said the slump of the shingles vaccine market was due to its greater sensitivity to external factors, such as the prevalence of infectious diseases, than chronic disease treatments. They also presumed that the inoculation of Covid-19 vaccines developed by global pharmaceutical companies has also played a role in decreasing the use of other vaccines.
The sales of Zostavax in the second quarter totaled 5.4 billion won, down 57.9 percent from a year ago. Its cumulative sales in the first half were 11.9 billion won, down 40.8 percent.
Skyzoster’s sales also plunged 60.8 percent to 3.8 billion won over the period. The sales figure hit the lowest level since the fourth quarter of 2017 when it made the market debut. Cumulative sales in the first half also dropped 44.2 percent to 8.2 billion won.
Korea's shingles vaccine market may need to brace up for further changes as they may soon face fiercer competition from GSK that plans to launch its shingles vaccine, Shingrix, which boasts far higher efficacy than existing products.
According to industry insiders, GSK applied for Shingrix's sales approval to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety in January and is waiting for the results of its review.
A GSK official acknowledged the company had made the application while not elaborating on its timing.
Industry insiders said that if GSK starts selling its vaccine in Korea, the shingles market will undergo a more drastic change as competition will intensify amid dwindling demand.