SK Bioscience said its shingles vaccine Skyzoster has taken the top market share position in 2022 but it remains to be seen whether it will maintain its leadership in 2023 due to the launch of a strong rival vaccine from GSK in January.

According to IMS data, a global market research institute, Skyzoster's domestic market share marked 54 percent in 2022, followed by MSD’s Zostavax with 46 percent. 

Skyzoster is the world's second and Korea's first shingles vaccine, developed by SK Bioscience based on its own technology. Skyzoster, officially launched in 2017, achieved a cumulative sales volume of a million doses within two years of entering the market.

However, some concerns remain as the vaccine maker faces competition after GSK launched Shingrix, which has a far superior shingles prevention effect compared to Skyzoster.

While Shingrix has reportedly been struggling to expand market share due to its high price, local doctors have stressed that the high prevention effect of GSK's shingles vaccine was noteworthy.

Even though the demand for Shingrix might be lower than GSK initially hoped, nothing is set in stone until the first quarter sales report comes out.

Industry watchers are awaiting the quarterly sales report to see if SK Bioscience will be able to continue holding the top market share position.

Still, positive market variables also exist.

President Yoon Suk Yeol promised during his candidacy to include the shingles vaccine in the National Immunization Program (NIP).

As the number of patients with shingles goes up, the need for vaccination is gradually increasing.

In major developed countries such as the U.K., Germany, and Canada, the shingles vaccine is included as the mandatory national vaccination, and support for the shingles vaccine is gradually expanding in Korea, centered on local governments.

Currently, more than 60 local governments in Korea are providing free shingles vaccinations to people over the age of 65.

However, if the shingles vaccine is included in adopted by NIP, industry watchers expect that the shingles vaccine market will become much larger.

If the shingles vaccine becomes part of the NIP, industry watchers predict that SK’s Skyzoster and MSD's Zostavax will have a higher chance of being included as a NIP vaccine candidate compared to GSK’s Shingrix, due to the price difference.

Meanwhile, SK Bioscience said it is also expanding its position in overseas markets.

After winning the first global permit for Skyzoster in Thailand in May 2020, the company has recently obtained approval from the Malaysian drug regulator in January.

In addition to these individual country permits, SK Bioscience plans to accelerate its efforts to target the global market by applying for WHO pre-qualification this year.