[THE INVESTOR] Korean biopharmaceutical firm Celltrion said on May 18 that its biosimilar drug Truxima has started sales in Germany.

Global firm Mundipharma International began distributing Celltrion’s biosimilar to Roche’s Mabthera in the country, Celltrion said.

In February, the European Medicines Agency accepted Celltrion’s application to sell the antibody biosimilar, which is used in the treatment of a number of diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis and non-Hodgkin‘s lymphoma, a type of leukemia.

Celltrion hit the British shelves last month, the first European country.

“In Germany, Truxima’s original drug is the most expensive among the European countries. The company believes that Truxima will be competitive in terms of the price,” said a Celltrion official who declined to be named.

By Alex Lee and newswires (alexlee@heraldcorp.com)