South Korean biopharmaceutical firm Celltrion Inc. said Monday its drug Remsima SC for the treatment of autoimmune diseases has won sales approval in Canada.

The Public Health Agency of Canada gave the green light to Celltrion's application to sell the subcutaneous (SC) version of Remsima, a biosimilar copy of Janssen Biotech Inc.'s Remicade, according to the company.

Remsima, administered through intravascular injections, is used in the treatment of a number of diseases, from rheumatoid arthritis to Crohn's disease, Celltrion said.

The SC version allows patients to conveniently inject it by themselves, unlike the intravenous formulation that requires patients to visit hospitals.

The Canadian agency gave approval for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis with Remsima SC. Celltrion plans to seek approval for other autoimmune diseases.

Celltrion said it intends to improve its competitiveness in the North American autoimmune disease therapeutic agent market with the existing Remsima and Remsima SC. (Yonhap)