This image provided by GlaxoSmithKline Plc. shows the drugmaker’s Shingrix vaccine.
SEOUL, March 2 (Korea Bizwire) — Multinational drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline Plc. (GSK) is staging active marketing activities to promote its shingles vaccine in the South Korean market, but the vaccine is still not selling as well as those produced by a Korean company.
GSK’s herpes zoster vaccine Shingrix is famous for its high prevention rate of 90 percent. After being released in the United States market in 2017, it has swept the shingles vaccine market.
The drugmaker joined hands with South Korean biotech company GC Pharma, which has the largest vaccine distribution network in the country.
GSK even launched a TV commercial in November starring star actor Ma Dong-seok, also known as Don Lee in the U.S.
However, Shingrix’s domestic market share remained at a mere 2 percent in the fourth quarter of last year, falling far behind South Korean pharmaceutical SK Bioscience Co.’s SKY Zoster (57 percent), according to health care big data tracker IQVIA Korea.
The primary factor behind the sluggish performance of Shingrix is its cost.
Shingrix is a vaccine administered as a two-dose series that needs to be taken at a two-month interval. It’s an ultra-high-priced premium vaccine with each dose costing 250,000-300,000 won (US$191-229).
SKY Zoster is 70 percent effective at preventing shingles, but they are one-dose vaccines costing 150,000-200,000 won.
Ashley Song (ashley@koreabizwire.com)
