Rosuzet and K-CAB maintain dual lead…Paxlovid sales surge

The new combination drug Rosuzet leads the overall market for the 7th consecutive quarter

K-CAB is on track to surpass KRW 200 billion in annual prescriptions, while Livalozet continues rapid growth

Paxlovid surprises with KRW 47.7 billion in quarterly outpatient sales

Homegrown drugs continue to dominate the top ranks of the outpatient prescription market.

 

Quarterly outpatient prescriptions of the new combination therapy Rosuzet and the new drug K-CAB both surpassed KRW 50 billion, firmly maintaining a two-top system.

 

Meanwhile, Livalozet continued its steep growth trajectory, and Paxlovid saw a sharp rise in prescriptions following its reimbursement listing.

 

According to the pharmaceutical research institution UBIST, Hanmi Pharmaceutical's hyperlipidemia combination drug Rosuzet recorded the highest outpatient prescription sales of KRW 58.9 billion in the third quarter.

 

Rosuzet’s prescriptions grew 11.0% compared to the third quarter of last year and increased 5.3% from the previous quarter.

 

Since becoming the first domestically developed drug to top Korea’s outpatient prescription market in Q1 2023, Rosuzet has held the No.

 

1 position for seven consecutive quarters.

 

From 2021 to 2023, it ranked No.

 

2 overall and topped the annual outpatient prescription sales for the first time last year.

 

Launched in late 2015, Rosuzet is a fixed-dose combination of rosuvastatin and ezetimibe.

 

Statin-ezetimibe combinations are seeing soaring demand in prescribing practices due to their excellent efficacy in lowering low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and their relatively low cost burden.

 

Since 2020, Rosuzet has consistently generated over KRW 100 billion in annual prescriptions, reaching KRW 210.3 billion in 2023, and became the first domestically developed drug ever to exceed KRW 200 billion in annual prescriptions.

 

Cumulative sales for the first three quarters of 2025 reached KRW 169.2 billion, up 10.2% year-on-year, making another over KRW 200 billion a year record highly likely.

 

HK Inno.N’s new drug K-CAB ranked second with KRW 56.1 billion in Q3 prescriptions, up 11.4% year-on-year.

 

Its cumulative total for the first three quarters reached KRW 160.8 billion, a 13.1% increase versus the same period last year.

 

Approved in 2018 as Korea's 30th domestically developed new drug, K-CAB is a ‘Potassium-Competitive Acid Blocker (P-CAB)’ for treating gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD).

 

Its mechanism of action involves competitively binding to the proton pump and potassium ions at the final stage of acid secretion in gastric wall cells, thereby inhibiting gastric acid secretion.

 

K-CAB has sequentially secured 5 more indications, including erosive and non-erosive GERD, gastric ulcers, H.

 

pylori eradication in combination with antibiotics for peptic or chronic atrophic gastritis, and maintenance therapy after GERD treatment.

 

With its rapid onset of action and dosing flexibility of use regardless of meals, K-CAB continues to post robust growth.

 

It first exceeded KRW 100 billion in 2021, its third year on the market, and has now achieved over KRW 100 billion annually for four consecutive years.

 

Having already surpassed KRW 100 billion in the first half of this year, K-CAB is poised to break the KRW 200 billion mark for 2025.

 

JW Pharmaceutical’s dyslipidemia combination drug Livalozet posted KRW 31.0 billion in Q3, up 29.0% year-on-year, ranking ninth overall.

 

Livalozet contains pitavastatin and ezetimibe.

 

Launched in October 2021, Livalozet has maintained steep growth since its release.

 

Its prescription surged in 2022 with sales of KRW 31.8 billion, soaring to KRW 93.3 billion in both 2023 and last year.

 

With cumulative third-quarter prescriptions reaching KRW 85.3 billion, a 27.7% year-on-year increase, Livalozet is poised to surpass KRW 100 billion this year.

 

Pfizer’s COVID-19 treatment Paxlovid ranked fifth overall with KRW 47.7 billion in outpatient prescriptions for Q3 alone.

 

Paxlovid is an oral antiviral that inhibits replication of the COVID-19 virus and is primarily prescribed to high-risk patients at risk of severe disease progression.

 

Initially supplied free of charge by the government, the drug transitioned to general hospital prescriptions after public procurement ended in mid-2024.

 

Since October last year, Paxlovid has fully entered the prescription market following its inclusion in the National Health Insurance reimbursement list.

 

The maximum insurance price ceiling was set at KRW 941,940, with the patient's copayment set at 5%.

 

Paxlovid made its full debut in the prescription market in the fourth quarter of last year, generating KRW  4.1 billion in prescription sales.

 

In the second quarter of this year, it recorded KRW 11.4 billion in prescription sales, surpassing KRW 10 billion, and in the third quarter, it jumped more than fourfold compared to the previous quarter.

 

Paxlovid's cumulative prescription sales for the third quarter reached KRW 67.3 billion.

 

This rapid surge is attributed to the sharp increase in COVID-19 patients combined with Paxlovid's high price point.

 

Paxlovid surpassed KRW 10 billion in monthly prescription sales for the first time in August, with KRW 17.4 billion, and last month it topped the overall market with KRW 24.9 billion, shaking up the entire prescription landscape.

 

AstraZeneca's anticancer drug Tagrisso saw its third-quarter outpatient prescription amount reach KRW 52.2 billion, a 43.0% increase year-on-year.

 

Its cumulative prescription performance for the third quarter was KRW 142.4 billion, a 47.2% increase.

 

Tagrisso is an epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI).

 

EGFR-TKIs are targeted anticancer drugs prescribed to patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) harboring EGFR mutations.

 

Since last year, Tagrisso, along with Yuhan Corporation's Leclaza, has had its reimbursement expanded to include ‘first-line treatment for locally advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer with specific genetic mutations’.

 

While anticancer drugs are predominantly prescribed to hospitalized patients, Tagrisso's oral formulation has significantly boosted its outpatient prescription volume.

 

Tagrisso's prescription sales surged from KRW 21 billion in Q4 2023 to KRW 32.3 billion in Q1 last year, maintaining its upward trajectory to exceed KRW 50 billion in Q3 this year.