Samsung Bioepis has secured a contract to act as the exclusive supplier of a rare disease treatment to Brazil’s public healthcare market for 10 years.

Samsung Bioepis announced on the 20th that it had signed a supply agreement with the Brazilian Ministry of Health for the rare disease treatment “SB12 (ingredient name: eculizumab).” SB12 is a biosimilar (biopharmaceutical copy drug) of “Soliris” developed by Alexion in the United States. Paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH), in which red blood cells are destroyed and blood clots form, leading to renal failure, is the primary indication. The Brazilian eculizumab market was worth USD 170 million (about KRW 250 billion) last year.

This contract was concluded under the Productive Development Partnership (PDP) program that the Brazilian government has operated since 2008. Under the PDP, overseas pharmaceutical companies are granted government procurement volumes on the condition that they transfer production technology to local pharmaceutical firms and state-run research institutions. Accordingly, from next year Samsung Bioepis, together with local pharmaceutical company Bionovis and state-run research institution Bahiafarma, will supply SB12 to Brazil’s public healthcare market for 10 years and transfer production technology to these partners. Since 2019, Samsung Bioepis has been supplying two biosimilars, including Enbrel and Herceptin, under the PDP program.

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