Celltrion’s second antibody biosimilar product in Europe, Truxima, has registered rapid growth in the European market, the company said Tuesday.

According to Mundipharma먼디파마, the European distributor for Celltrion셀트리온헬스케어, Truxima’s sales account for more than 30 percent of original drug sales in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands in July, and the market share has risen more than 10 percent every month since May. The increase in market share of Truxima is about three to four times faster than that of Remsima.

Celltrion launched its first antibody biosimilar to treat autoimmune disorders Remsima in Europe, including the U.K., Germany, France, and Italy in early 2015, which took up about 30 percent market share by the end of the first quarter of 2016.

This means Truxima’s tempo in market share growth is three to four times faster than that of Remsima, the company said.

It attributed rapid growth of Truxima to its price 30 percent to 40 percent lower than the original drug and the steadily rising recognition of the quality of Celltrion biosimilars among European medical professionals and patients.

Rituxan, the original drug of Truxima, has a global market size of 7 trillion won ($6.25billion), and the European market is estimated to be about 3 trillion won. Europe currently consumes about 45 percent of the global demand for Rituximab, the target substance of Truxima.

"Celltrion has achieved significant success in Europe as the first mover in antibody biosimilars in partnership with global businesses with marketing competitiveness,” a company official said. “With the launch of Truxima, we have been able to develop not only autoimmune disease therapies but are securing our position as a leader in biosimilars."

Celltrion will do its best to attain similarly impressive results with its breast cancer therapy Herzuma, which will likely win the approval in Europe in the second half of the year, he added.

Its European distributor agrees. "The number of hospitals that buy Truxima for patient prescriptions is growing rapidly,” said an official at Mundie Pharma. “We will do our best to provide European cancer patients with more opportunities for treatment through anti-cancer antibody biosimilars.”

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