Samsung Releases Lower-Cost Alternative to Johnson & Johnson's Drug Remicade

By Timothy W. Martin and Jonathan D. Rockoff

Americans suffering from arthritis can now find relief from an unexpected new player in the pharmaceuticals market: Samsung.

South Korea's Samsung conglomerate, best known for its smartphones and televisions, will make available on Monday in the U.S. its lower-price copy of Johnson & Johnson's blockbuster rheumatoid-arthritis drug Remicade. The Samsung-developed drug will be marketed to health-care providers by Merck & Co.'s U.S. sales team and will be sold for about 35% of Remicade's current list price.

The move follows an April approval by the Food and Drug Administration. It is the Samsung business empire's debut treatment in the world's biggest drug market and reflects its desires to diversify beyond electronics.

Samsung Bioepis Co., the group's new biotechnology company, is targeting the creation of near replicas of so-called branded biologic drugs, like Remicade, which are made out of living cells and address complex diseases including cancer or arthritis. These so-called biosimilars are sold more cheaply than brand-name treatments that often cost tens of thousands of dollars a year.

Write to Timothy W. Martin at timothy.martin@wsj.com and Jonathan D. Rockoff at Jonathan.Rockoff@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 24, 2017 08:36 ET (12:36 GMT)

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