Alliance Formed

Huh Eun-cheol, CEO of Green Cross (left) and Kim Dae-sung, CEO of ISU Abxis (right) posed for a photo after signing a contract for “business alliance” for the local distribution of Abcertin, at the headquarters of Green Cross in Yongin on July 5.
Huh Eun-cheol, CEO of Green Cross (left) and Kim Dae-sung, CEO of ISU Abxis (right) posed for a photo after signing a contract for “business alliance” for the local distribution of Abcertin, at the headquarters of Green Cross in Yongin on July 5.

 

Green Cross announced on July 5 that it has signed a contract for “business alliance” with Korea-based biopharmaceutical company ISU Abxis to cooperate for the local distribution of Abcertin, a treatment for Gaucher's disease.

Under the contract, Green Cross will be responsible for the domestic distribution and sales of the ISU Abxis–developed Abcertin. In fact, since 2014, Green Cross and ISU Abxis have jointly sold Fabagal, a ISU Abxis-developed treatment for Fabry disease.

Both Gaucher’s and Fabry diseases are hereditary metabolic diseases that result from the accumulation of abnormal cells due to the lack of specific enzymes in lysosome. The accumulation of the abnormal cells in bone marrows, liber and spleen enlarges liber and spleen and causes a variety of bone diseases and neurological symptom.

Both Abcertin and Fabagal work as an enzyme replacement therapy (ERT) for the patients with enzyme deficiency, helping the management of the diseases.

Currently, the local market for treatment of Fabry and Gaucher’s diseases are dominated by Sanofi Genzyme’s Fabrazyme (85 percent), a drug for Fabry disease, and Cerezyme (67 percent), a drug for Gaucher’s disease. Given the rarity of these diseases, the local Korean market for both treatments is known to be very small, amounting to only about 100 patients for each case.

Explaining the motive behind the “business alliance,” Huh Eun-cheol, CEO of Green Cross, said it is an effort to promote the technological competency of local companies to treat rare diseases against the powerful presence of a foreign multinational company that dominates the market in Korea.

Huh added that the introduction of new medicines to the local market will provide “options” for patients and provide a better environment to enhance the quality of life of the patients.  

On the other hand a representative from Sanofi Genzyme Korea refuted that the domination of the market by Sanofi Genzyme has never been intended. She added that it was just the result of the technological superiority of the company’s products, Cerezyme and Fabrazyme, and the trust of the products among medical professionals proved by the official approval of Sanofi Genzyme's products by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety in Korea in 2012.

 

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