China's Domestic Pharma Companies Intensify Focus on the Multi-Billion-Dollar Diabetes Market

　　【Pharmaceutical Network Industry News】Recently, Huadong Medicine announced that it has signed an exclusive commercialization agreement with multinational pharmaceutical company Takeda (Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited), obtaining the exclusive commercialization rights in mainland China for Takeda's marketed innovative product, alogliptin benzoate tablets (brand name: Nesina). It is reported that upon completion of the transaction, Huadong Medicine will hold the commercialization rights for Nesina in China, while Takeda will continue to be responsible for the manufacturing and supply of Nesina.
 

According to public information, the alogliptin benzoate tablets involved in this transaction are a dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) inhibitor used for the treatment of type 2 diabetes. Currently, only the originator product of alogliptin benzoate tablets is marketed in China.
 

It is worth noting that, according to data, the diabetes market size was approximately RMB 55.6 billion in 2020, with the DPP-4 inhibitor market alone exceeding RMB 3 billion. Against the backdrop of a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) exceeding 50% in recent years, industry analysts expect the future sales of alogliptin benzoate to be substantial.
 

In fact, Huadong Medicine is highly optimistic about the prospects of this collaboration. The company explicitly stated that this partnership represents a strong alliance and enables a more efficient allocation of resources for both parties, fully demonstrating the industry's recognition of its commercialization capabilities in the diabetes field in China. Looking ahead, the introduced Alogliptin Benzoate Tablets will further enrich the company's diabetes product pipeline and generate synergies with its existing key diabetes products, while further consolidating and enhancing its market competitiveness in China's diabetes specialty medication sector.
 

In addition to Huadong Medicine, Salubris recently announced that the company intends to sign an agreement with South Korea's D&D PHARMATECH, INC. to obtain the exclusive license for the intellectual property and technical information related to the innovative drug DD01 in mainland China. Salubris will make payments based on R&D milestones, with a total amount not exceeding $27 million. It is reported that the intended indications for the innovative drug DD01 include type 2 diabetes, obesity, and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH).
 

It is reported that, given the substantial market demand for diabetes management, Salubris has been actively focusing on the glucose-lowering therapeutic area. To date, Phase III clinical trial enrollment for both fulaglitin monotherapy and its combination with metformin has been completed, while the company also has innovative small-molecule products under development. Regarding this collaboration, Salubris stated that it will leverage the relevant clinical trial data to accelerate the R&D progress in China. Upon market launch, the drug will provide patients with more convenient and effective treatment options, address unmet clinical needs in diabetes management, and further enrich Salubris’s innovative product portfolio in the chronic disease therapeutic area.
 

In fact, the vast market will naturally attract increasing attention from a growing number of enterprises. It is reported that numerous domestic pharmaceutical companies, including Hengrui Medicine, Kelun Pharmaceutical, HuaMedicine, and Guizhou Bailing, are currently actively participating in the research, development, and introduction of drugs in this field.
 

For example, on June 1, Huadong Medicine announced that it had signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Japan's SCOHIA PHARMA, whereby for an upfront payment of USD 4 million, potential development, regulatory approval, and commercialization milestones of up to USD 24 million, and tiered net sales royalties, the company will obtain exclusive rights to develop, manufacture, and commercialize SCOHIA PHARMA's investigational product SCO-094 in the Asia-Pacific region (covering 25 countries and regions excluding Japan) for the treatment of endocrine diseases such as type 2 diabetes, obesity, and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH).
 

On April 23, Hua Medicine also announced that the New Drug Application (NDA) for dorzagliatin, a first-in-class innovative diabetes drug developed by the company, has been officially accepted by China's National Medical Products Administration (NMPA). It is reported that dorzagliatin has become the first glucokinase activator (GKA) diabetes therapeutic worldwide to submit an NDA, and is expected to be the first to be marketed in China.
 

Industry analysis indicates that, with the successive market launch of domestically approved products and the continuous introduction of foreign pharmaceuticals, competition among enterprises in the antidiabetic drug market is expected to be extremely intense.