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Spain's Almirall has announced strategic plans at the 43rd JP Morgan Healthcare Conference based on expected double-digit growth within the dermatological area for Almirall's psoriasis and atopic dermatitis franchises.
The company's dermatology business is driven by Ebglyss (lebrikizumab) and Ilumetri (tildrakizumab). The company further reveals that these medications are anticipated to lead to over EUR800m ($820.66m) in annual peak sales. Moreover, the global sales are expected to increase as the medications are launched in key markets, and Almirall expects Ebglyss to land in a dozen countries by 2025, twice as many as in 2024.
For the Catalan company, medical dermatology is considered the driving force, and in 2023, this area represented 52% of its income with a turnover of EUR465.2m ($477.36m). Nevertheless, the company revealed that it has seen an increase in its turnover in Europe, while in the US it has recorded a decline. Eli Lilly has the exclusive rights to develop and commercialize Ebglyss globally, apart from Europe, while Almirall has licensed the rights to commercialise Ebglyss in Europe.
While Ebglyss has gained regulatory approval in the EU, Canada, South Korea, and Japan, it has struggled to secure positive reimbursement status across Europe, due to competition in the atopic dermatitis market. Additionally, it has been found that Ebglyss has a similar therapeutic value to Sanofi and Regeneron's rival treatment Dupixent (dupilumab) in the same indication, as a treatment for adult and adolescent patients with moderate to severe atopic dermatitis.
In a similar manner, Spain's Ministry of Health (MoH) proposed that Pfizer's atopic dermatitis treatment Cibinqo (abrocitinib) is equivalent to Almirall's Ebglyss. This news was a surprise to Almirall because the MoH had previously stated that their treatment had more variables of use than Pfizer's, and as a result, Ebglyss entered the Spanish market at a higher price.
To date, GlobalData's pricing and reimbursement service reveals that only five EU member states have awarded general reimbursement status to Ebglyss, including the Netherlands (December 2024), Italy (November 2024), the Czech Republic (June/September 2024), Germany (December 2023), and Spain (reimbursement in hospitals only). Nevertheless, Almirall claims that medical dermatology continues to be a sector with significant unmet needs based on the severe patient impact of a wide range of dermatological diseases, uncontrolled patients with chronic diseases, increasing numbers of diagnoses, and the transition of more patients to advanced treatments.