Celltrion wins string of biosimilar tenders in Nordic region, Netherlands

Celltrion is rapidly expanding its direct-sales footprint across Europe, winning a series of large-scale tenders for high-margin biosimilar products in the Nordic region and the Netherlands — markets beyond the five major EU countries where it has traditionally focused.

The company announced Thursday that its new biosimilar lineup — Aptozma (tocilizumab) for autoimmune diseases, Omriclo (omalizumab) for allergic conditions and Osenvelt (denosumab) for bone diseases — had secured tender contracts in Norway, the Netherlands and Denmark, among other European markets.

Aptozma won supply rights for both prefilled syringe and auto-injector formulations in Norway's national tender, with a two-year supply agreement running from early this year. The contract is expected to give Celltrion an average market share of about 85 percent in Norway's tocilizumab market.

In Finland, Aptozma had already reached a 42 percent share in the subcutaneous retail segment as of June, and Celltrion recently added an intravenous tender win in the country's eastern region, completing supply coverage across all formulations.

The Netherlands has also delivered a string of tender wins. Celltrion's Dutch subsidiary secured contracts with a purchasing consortium of seven university hospitals (IZAAZ) and a specialist musculoskeletal and rheumatology hospital group (SMK), beginning supply in March. In the second quarter, it followed up with wins at the southeastern regional pharmaceutical purchasing consortium (ICZON) and a hospital drug joint-procurement body (ZRIG), giving Celltrion a roughly 58 percent share of the local tocilizumab market.

The newer portfolio products, Omriclo and Osenvelt, have also established a foothold in the Nordic market. Omriclo, launched as a first-mover biosimilar, secured sole-supplier status in Denmark's national tender and recently extended its supply contract, putting it on track to hold more than 98 percent of the Danish market by year-end. Osenvelt likewise won sole-supplier awards in national tenders in both Norway and Denmark and will begin full-scale supply this month.

Celltrion said the healthcare professional and procurement networks it built through sales of its Remsima and Yuflyma product lines had enabled the new products to gain traction quickly. The company plans to sustain aggressive marketing in markets where it has already entered while moving early to secure positions in regions where launches are still pending.

The results demonstrate that Celltrion's direct-sales network has taken firm hold not only in the five major EU markets but also in non-EU5 countries, and that its portfolio-diversification strategy — using its existing autoimmune disease infrastructure as a springboard for higher-margin new products — is bearing fruit.

"We are seeing continued tender wins for our new product lineup across key Nordic countries, and in some markets we have secured sole-supplier status," said Baek Seung-du, head of Celltrion's Nordic operations. "We will convert these tender wins into actual sales by leveraging our differentiated product competitiveness and stable supply capabilities, and we will also step up field-driven marketing in the retail segment."