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- 2026-04-12 10:11:26
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- Shionogi applies to trademark its COVID-19 treatment
- by Kim, Jin-Gu May 17, 2022 06:02am
- With the domestic trademark application for the COVID-19 treatment that is being jointly developed by Shionogi Pharma and Ildong Pharmaceutical nearing completion, Shionogi Pharma and Ildong Pharmaceutical are speeding up preparations to commercialize its drug in Korea in the second half of this year. Shionogi submitted a trademark application for XOCOVAAccording to the Korean Intellectual Property Office on the 7th, Shionogi Pharma recently submitted an application for 6 trademarks including ‘Xocava.’ The trademarks were registered for ▲ antiviral drugs ▲ drugs for human use ▲ drugs for medical use ▲ animal drugs, etc. In addition to ‘Xocova,’ Shionogi submitted trademark applications for ‘Zocovea,’ ‘Zocovaty,’ ‘Xovished,’ ‘Xocovetti,’ and ‘Vyveclis.’ The KIPO review for the trademarks is complete, and the names are undergoing an objection submission period. Industry prospects are that these are brand names of ‘S-217622,’ the COVID-19 treatment that is being jointly developed by Shionogi Pharma and Ildong Pharmaceutical. The same names are known to have been already trademarked in Japan. Therefore, one of the names above may well be the brand name of S-217622 when Ildong Pharmaceutical applies for its emergency use approval to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety in the near future. Ildong Pharmaceutical expects to commercialize S-217622 by the second half of the year. If Shionogi Pharma receives conditional approval for S-217622 in Japan, the company plans to use the approval as a basis with the domestic Phase IIb clinical trial results to apply for its emergency use approval in Korea. An official from Ildong Pharmaceutical said, “Shionogi Pharma has completed the Phase IIb trial for S-217622 and submitted an application for its conditional approval to the Japanese government. The company expects the conditional approval to come within the third quarter of this year. We plan to apply for emergency use approval in Korea after the results come out in Japan.” He added, “After we receive emergency use approval in Korea, we will receive technology transfer from Shionogi and start full-scale production. We have completed preparations and are ready to start production as soon as we receive the technology transfer." Ildong Pharmaceutical has been jointly developing S-217622 with Shionogi Pharma since November last year. Shionogi Pharma is in charge of the global trials in other countries and Ildong is in charge of the trials in Korea. The patient size for the domestic Phase IIb trial is set at 200, and at 400 for the Phase III trial. Patient enrollment for the domestic Phase IIb trial is known to be complete. S-217622 inhibits the 3CL protease that is essential for the replication of SARS-CoV-2. The oral COVID-19 treatments currently approved in Korea are Pfizer’s Paxlovid (ritonavir·nirmatrelvir) and MSD’s Lagevrio (molnupiravir). If commercialized, S-217622 may be listed as the third oral COVID-19 treatment to be approved in Korea.
- Company
- Pharmaceutical exports fall 19% this year
- by Kim, Jin-Gu May 17, 2022 06:02am
- Pharmaceutical exports from January to April last year were found to have fallen 19% from the same period in the previous year. According to the Korea Customs Service on the 16th, pharmaceutical exports from January to April this year have recorded $2,191,880,000 (approx. ₩2.81 trillion). This is a 19% decrease from the $2,689,820,000 (approx. ₩3.45 trillion) accrued last year. In the same period, the amount of imports increased 42% from $2,534,920,000 (approx. ₩3.25 trillion) to $3,603,450,000 (approx. ₩4.62 trillion). With exports greatly reduced and a surge in imports, the trade balance of pharmaceuticals, which recorded a surplus in the same period last year, turned to a deficit. From January to April this year, the trade balance of pharmaceuticals recorded a deficit of $1,411,570,000 (approx. ₩1.81 trillion). By each country, exports to the US and Italy surged. Exports to the US recorded $217,070,000 (approx. ₩280 billion) this year, a 77% increase from the $122,330,000 (approx. ₩160 billion) in the same period of last year. In the same period, exports to Italy jumped from $23,380,000 (approx. ₩30 billion) to $156,570,000 (approx. ₩200 billion) this year. On the other hand, exports to Germany fell from $1,010,270,000 (approx. ₩1.3 trillion) to $192,910,000 (approx. ₩250 billion). Germany had been Korea's largest exporting country for pharmaceuticals for the past 3 years from 2019 to last year. Exports to Japan also fell 15% from $161,250,000 (approx. ₩210 billion) to $146,170,000 (approx. ₩190 billion). In China, sales dropped by nearly half from $84,770,000 (approx. ₩110 billion) to $45,310,000 (approx. ₩58 billion).
- Company
- Why MSD raised the price of Gardasil 9 for two years?
- by May 17, 2022 06:02am
- As MSD Korea raised the supply price of Gardasil 9, a cervical cancer vaccine, by 25% in two years, attention is being paid to the background. Some interpret the decision ahead of the application of Gadasil 9's health insurance benefits, which was President Yoon Seok-yeol's pledge, or an alternative to fill the sales gap due to the reduction of Januvia drug prices. According to MSD Korea on the 17th, the supply price of Gardasil 9 will increase by 8.5% from July 1st. This is the first measure in a year and three months following a 15% increase in April last year. The supply price of Gardasil 9, which was 106,300 won (excluding VAT) early last year, rose 15,945 won to 122,245 won in April of that year. With the decision to raise the price further this year, Gardasil 9 will be supplied at 132,636 won starting in July. Various interpretations have been made about the increase in Gardasil 9 for the second consecutive year of MSD in Korea. It then rose 25% in two years as the price was raised again in a year and three months. The average total inoculation cost of Gardasil 9 (three times), calculated as the average inoculation price per session (215,555 won), amounts to 631,665 won. Various interpretations are exchanged over the measure of raising Gardasil 9 for the second consecutive year by MSD Korea. In particular, the backlash was so strong that a national petition against a price hike appeared last year. This is why attention is focused on the background of pushing ahead with another increase in supply prices despite worsening public opinion. President Yoon promised to expand Gardasil 9 insurance when he was a candidate. The vaccines included in the existing National Essential Vaccination (NIP) are Cervarix and Gardasil. The pledge is to support free vaccination of Gardasil 9, which has a wider range of prevention. The scope of support will also be greatly expanded. It encompasses not only women aged 12 to 17, women from low-income families aged 18 to 26, but also women aged 9 to 45 and men aged 9 to 26, who are currently eligible for NIP. As a way for the government to support Gardasil 9, a plan to expand the scope of NIP and include Gardasil 9 or to provide health insurance benefits for Gardasil 9 is cited. Both measures are more likely to fall in price than before through bidding or drug price negotiations. This is the background of the interpretation that the supply price hike is a preemptive measure in preparation for the future reduction of Gardasil 9. It is also interpreted as a countermeasure to fill the sales gap caused by lowering drug prices of other drugs such as Januvia. MSD Korea asked to "trade off" in negotiations with the government to expand the primary benefit of non-small cell lung cancer of Keytruda, a blockbuster immuno-cancer drug. Instead of expanding Keytruda's benefit, it has decided to voluntarily cut drug prices for 15 items, including Januvia Family, which has an outpatient prescription of 171 billion won, from at least 3.2% to up to 77%. The opinion is that price increase of Gardasil 9 is a strategy to fill the sales gap caused by drug price cuts. In response, MSD Korea drew a line, saying, "The price increase of Gardasil 9 is the result of price adequacy evaluation." The company conducts a price adequacy evaluation of medicines at the global level every year, and this increase is only a result of the evaluation and has no other impact. It was also judged that the drug price cut would not hurt overall sales due to Keytruda's rise. The price increase is not limited to Korea, but also applied to other countries that supply Gardasil 9. While Gardasil 9 price hikes have only recently been carried out in Korea, the company also emphasizes that it has increased by an average of 5% every year in the United States. An official from MSD Korea said, "It is difficult to disclose specific evaluation criteria, but the policy of Gardasil 9 price has only changed, and there is no other impact."
- Company
- Prescription of CGRP migraine drugs to begin in earnest?
- by Eo, Yun-Ho May 17, 2022 06:01am
- CGRP-targeted migraine treatments are gaining better access as prescriptions. The first drug introduced is nearing insurance benefit listing and the second drug is landing in general hospitals. According to industry sources, the Calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP)-targeted migraine treatment ‘Emgality (galcanezumab)’ has passed deliberations by the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service’s Drug Reimbursement Evaluation Committee on the 12th. The latecomer ‘Ajovy (fremanezumab)’ also applied for insurance benefits earlier this year but was not set for deliberations in the recent DREC meeting. However still, Ajovy passed the drug committees (DCs) of Seoul Asan Medical Center and Sinchon Severance Hospital. If Emgality successfully receives reimbursement approval, Ajovy’s reimbursement would also be plausible with the pharmaceutical companies’ will. Both drugs are humanized monoclonal antibody drugs that bind to the CGRP ligand that plays a key role in inducing migraine symptoms to inhibit its binding to its receptor. Although the two drugs are of the same class, Severe migraine patients are approaching the drugs with different expectations due to their differences in dosage and administration, etc. Emgality can currently be prescribed in medical institutions nationwide, including the ‘Big 5’ that includes the Seoul National University Hospital and Sinchon Severance Hospital, as well as other institutions nationwide, such as the Kangbuk Samsung Hospital, Hallym University Dongtan Sacred Heart Hospital, and Nowon Eulji Medical Center. Meanwhile, Emgality’s approval was based on results of the EVOLVE-1 and EVOLVE-2 trials which involved 1,773 patients with episodic migraine (at least 4 to 14 migraine headaches days [MHDs] a month) for 6 months, and the REGAIN trial which involved 1,113 patients with chronic migraines (at least 15 headaches days per month with at least 8 MHDs per month) for 3 months. Results of the two trials on episodic migraine patients comparing the changes in MHDs per month over 6 months showed that, compared to baseline (Emgality group 9.2 days, placebo group 9.1 days), Emgality demonstrated efficacy over placebo in treating migraines. In the case of Ajovy, the drug comes in two formulations, one which is administered in a monthly dosage and the other that comes in a quarterly dosage that is administered every 3 months. The drug demonstrated its efficacy at the HALO EM/CM clinical trial that was conducted for 12 weeks on 2,000 episodic migraine (EM) and chronic migraine (CM) patients. In the HALO EM study that was conducted to verify the efficacy and safety of Ajovy in comparison to the placebo, Ajovy met the primary endpoint by significantly reducing the monthly number of migraine days in both the monthly and quarterly dosed groups. WonGu Lee, Professor of Neurology at Kosin University Hospital, said, “Unlike existing preventive treatments that required daily dosage, patients may manage their migraines with once-a-month injection with CGRP-targeted antibody drugs. The treatment cost remains an issue, however, we neurologists have high expectations for these drugs because the condition becomes easier to treat with more targeted therapies.”
- Policy
- Discussions on the benefits of migraine txs begin in earnest
- by Lee, Tak-Sun May 16, 2022 06:14am
- Emgality that passed the Drug Reimbursment Evaluation Committee on the 12thAs Lilly Korea's Emgality passed the HIRA's Drug Reimbursment Evaluation Committee, discussions on the benefit of the migraine txs are rapidly progressing. Following Emgality, Handok Teva's Ajovy, the same (CGRP) target treatment, is also seeking to enter the benefit. Reyvow of Ildong Pharmaceutical, which was approved in Korea on the 12th, is also speeding up the payment process through the approval-benefit evaluation linkage system. On the 12th, the Drug Reimbursment Evaluation Committee of the HIRA held the fifth meeting in 2022 and judged that Lilly's Emgality was eligible for the benefit. Accordingly, Emgality will enter the stage of drug price negotiations with the NHIS. Emgality is currently licensed for three products in Korea. In September 2019, Emgality 120 mg/ml PFS and Emgality 120 mg/ml PFS Pen, and Emgality 100 mg/ml PFS were licensed in May 2020. The product that passed the Reimbursment Evaluation Committee this time was Emgality 120mg/ml PFS, which was recognized as a migraine prevention drug in adults. Triptan-based painkillers are used as migraine treatments, but side effects such as vascular over-contraction are often pointed out. Recently, new drugs for migraine are attracting attention as their effects have improved as they overcome the side effects of existing drugs. A representative drug is an antibody new drug that directly targets CGRP receptors. Emgality and Teva's Ajovy are typical CGRP drugs. Emgality submitted in March last year and passed the Reimbursment Evaluation Committee more than a year ago. Ajovy also reportedly submitted in January. A new oral tx has also emerged. It is Reyvow, which acquired domestic copyrights by Ildong Pharmaceutical. It was originally confirmed to be introduced in Korea in 2013 when Ildong signed a development partnership and domestic sales license agreement with CoLucid Pharmaceuticals, a developer. Since then, Eli Lilly acquired CoLucid Pharmaceuticals in 2017, and in 2019, it has also obtained US FDA approval under the name Reyvow. Ildong then began testing bridges for domestic sales permits and submitted an application for permits immediately after the end of last year. Recently, the drug is known to be undergoing a review at the same time as permission. Accordingly, Emgality's benefit is expected to be the standard for other migraine new drugs. For now, Emgality is also expected to negotiate with the industrial complex. Teva is also expected to establish a benefit strategy while looking at the results of Emgality's negotiations. The domestic migraine treatment market is smaller than that of patients. The annual prescription amount of tryptan-based drugs remains at 15.5 billion won based on UBIST in 2020. However, the prevalence of migraine in Korea is not small at around 6%. According to the HIRA statistics in 2020, 550,000 patients visited the hospital for migraine and received treatment, but about 2 million patients have not visited hospitals. Therefore, pharmaceutical companies expect that the market size will be much larger than it is now if the migraine tx, which has been upgraded from the existing drug, is reimbursed.
- Company
- Servier launches supply of new acute leukemia drug Oncaspar
- by Eo, Yun-Ho May 16, 2022 06:14am
- Servier Korea began supplying Oncaspar Lyophilized Inj, a combination treatment for "acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL)" from the 10th. It was supplied through the rare drug center, but the license holder, Servier, was in charge of the supply, and insurance benefits have not yet been registered. Servier Korea is undergoing prescription procedures at major general hospitals to ensure that Rx for Oncaspar can continue smoothly as supplies to rare drug centers are exhausted. Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) treatment was approved by the MFDS as a rare specialty drug in February last year as a combination therapy with other anti-tumor drugs. Oncaspar is a drug that maximizes the half-life of drug circulation through PEGylation, dramatically reducing the frequency of administration to be administered once every 14 days compared to L-Asparaginease, which was previously administered once every other day. Considering that ALL has a high incidence rate, especially in pediatric patients, the improved method is expected to reduce the injection burden, physical pain, and hypersensitivity reactions of pediatric patients and patient guardians suffering from frequent anticancer injections. It is expected to have a positive effect on medical costs such as hospital visits or hospitalization for injection treatment. Oncaspar, which was first approved as a secondary treatment for ALL in the United States and Germany in 1994, was recognized as a primary treatment for ALL in the United States in 2006. Since birth in Europe in 2016, it has been approved as a combination therapy with other anticancer drugs in 18-year-old children and adult ALL patients. Oncaspar is primarily recommended in major international guidelines and treatment protocols such as NCCN and ESMO and Children's oncology group (COG) as a treatment for acute lymphocytic leukemia and is used in 62 countries. Servier Korea CEO, Melanie Loresry said, "We are happy to supply Oncaspar, an innovative treatment option, to patients suffering from ALL and hematologic oncologists. "This release reveals Servier's hope to better treat rare cancer and lead tumor treatment," he said.
- Company
- Huons' local anesthetics export contract with FPI Canada
- by Kim, Jin-Gu May 16, 2022 06:14am
- CEO Yoon Sang-bae (left) and CEO FPI Lee Mangubat are taking a commemorative photo after holding a contract ceremony to export local anesthetics to Canada at the Pangyo headquarters in Seongnam, Huons on the 12thHuons announced on the 13th that it has signed an export contract with Canadian pharmaceutical company Formative Pharma Inc (FPI). Items signed an export contract are▲1% Lidocaine hydrochloride injection 5mL, ▲ 0.75% Bupivacaine hydrochloride injection 2ml, and ▲ 1% lidocaine hydrochloride injection 5mL vial. These items were obtained from April 2018 to May 2020 by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Huons plans to work with FPI to obtain permission from Health Canada. It is expected that it will be able to complete the license application by June and start local sales within the third quarter of next year. "The Canadian generic basic injection market is worth $712 million, of which Huons enters the aseptic injection market of $21 million to $25 million," said Lee Mangubat, CEO of FPI. "There are many opportunities as large pharmaceutical companies are suffering from continuous shortfalls due to financial difficulties." An official from Huons said, "If we enter Canada following the U.S., our position in the North American injection market will be stronger." "With this contract, we plan to discuss expanding items with FPI to target the Canadian generic aseptic injection market," he said. FPI is a pharmaceutical import company established in Ontario, Canada in 2018.
- Policy
- Daewoong’s P-CAB drug Fexclu receives conditional approval
- by Lee, Tak-Sun May 16, 2022 06:14am
- Daewoong Pharmaceutical’s P-CAB class gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) treatment ‘Fexclu’ has received conditional approval from the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service’s Drug Reimbursement Evaluation Committee. The committee decided reimbursement was appropriate for the drugs if the company accepts a price below the appraised amount. Accordingly, their reimbursement will be determined in the drug price negotiations with NHIS that will follow. The NHIS announced that it held the 5th 2022 Drug Reimbursement Evaluation Committee (DREC) meeting on the 12th to deliberate on the adequacy of providing insurance benefits to 4 drugs including Fexclu. The 4 drugs that were deliberated were fexuprazan hydrochloride products including Fexclu Tab. 40mg, etc that Daewoong’s subsidiaries Daewoong Pharmaceutical, Daewoong Bio, Hanall Biopharma, iN Therapeutics received approval for. DREC determined that reimbursement was appropriate if the companies accept a price below the appraised amount for the treatment of erosive gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). In other words, the company needs to accept the appraised price to receive reimbursement. The decision will now depend on the NHIS negotiations that will follow. The reimbursement process will progress rapidly if Daewoong and the other pharmaceutical companies accept the appraised price, but be difficult otherwise. The Donerion/Donesive patch (donepezil) developed by Celltrion·Icure also received conditional approval from DREC. The drug is the first patch to be developed using donepezil, the ingredient most widely used for the treatment of Alzheimer's-type dementia. As in the case of fexuprazan, DREC determined that reimbursement for donepezil was appropriate if the companies accept a price below the appraised amount for the treatment of Alzheimer's-type dementia symptoms. On the other hand, new drugs developed by multinational pharmaceutical companies were determined appropriate for reimbursement without any condition, and their progress to reimbursement is expected to proceed more quickly. Novartis Korea’s SMA treatment ‘Zolgensma (onasemnogene abeparvovec-xioi)’ and Lilly Korea’s migraine prophylaxis drug ‘Emgality (galcanezumab)’ were recognized as appropriate for reimbursement. In the case of Zolgensma, the drug was approved appropriate for reimbursement in patients with SMA with a bi-allelic mutation in the SMN1 gene under the condition that the drug receives prior approval for medical care benefits and is applied the patient-unit performance-based RSA and an expenditure cap. Emgality was determined appropriate for reimbursement as a preventive treatment of migraine in adult patients.
- Company
- The introduction of Biogen Aduhelm in Korea is also unclear
- by May 16, 2022 06:13am
- Biogen has decided to minimize the commercialization infrastructure of the Alzheimer's drug Aduhelm and focus on developing subsequent drugs. In fact, it is unclear whether Aduhelm, which is in the process of eviction, will be introduced in Korea. Biogen announced in its first-quarter earnings announcement on the 3rd (local time) that CEO Michel Vounatsos will resign due to responsibility for Aduhelm. CEO Michel Vounatsos will retire as soon as a successor is decided. At the same time, what attracts attention is the announcement that it will drastically reduce Aduhelm's commercial infrastructure. Biogen said it minimizes all infrastructure for Aduhelm's commercialization. In the previously announced $500 million annual cost reduction plan, it will save an additional $500 million. In fact, it is interpreted as a decision to give up the commercialization of Aduhelm. Biogen's move to give up Aduhelm is pointed out as the decisive background for the rise to the surface of the water, which is the restriction on the application of Aduhelm insurance by Medicare, a U.S. public health insurance. CMS in the U.S. made a final decision last month to apply insurance benefits only to patients who participated in clinical trials of Aduhelm. CEO Michel Vounatsos said in a performance announcement, "This decision is very disappointing as it virtually rejects Aduhelm from all Medicare subscribers." "As a result, Biogen will substantially eliminate commercial infrastructure for Aduhelm," he said. Aduhelm is also increasing the financial burden on the company. Biogen said it was negatively affected by $275 million in inventory amortization costs for Aduhelm and $45 million in idle capacity costs in the first quarter. Instead, Biogen plans to accelerate the development of follow-up drugs. The subsequent drug is another new Alzheimer's drug, Lecanemab. It is being developed jointly with Eisai and Biogen plans to begin the process for Lecanemab's acceleration approval this year. The pharmaceutical bio industry interprets that Biogen's decision has also made it unclear about the commercialization of Aduhelm in Korea. Biogen had already voluntarily withdrawn Aduhelm's application for European permission in April. After the EMA refused to approve Aduhelm in December last year, it reapplied for approval, but soon voluntarily decided to withdraw it. Biogen applied for Aduhelm from the MFDS in July last year. It is predicted that the MFDS, which has currently started the screening for Aduhelm, has possibilities to refuse the permission by referring to EMA's decision. However, Biogen expressed its original position, saying that it has not changed its domestic commercialization plan. An official from Biogen said, "We confirmed the decision of the global headquarters through the article, and there were no guidelines for commercialization in Korea."
- Company
- Wet AMD tx new option to shorten Eyelea's minimum cycle
- by May 16, 2022 06:13am
- Bayer's macular degeneration treatment Eyelea took the lead in establishing an optimized treatment strategy for patients by shortening the minimum treatment cycle. It is evaluated that a new option was presented in macular degeneration treatment that determines the treatment cycle according to the patient's condition. According to the pharmaceutical industry on the 6th, Eylea's minimum administration interval has recently been shortened from 8 weeks to 4 weeks. Accordingly, medical staff can increase the treatment interval from at least 4 weeks to up to 16 weeks through monitoring after injection once a month for the first three months of treatment with Eyelea. As T&E therapy is widely used in macular degeneration treatment, the medical staff believes that there is room for reducing the minimum dose interval to address the unmet demand. T&E therapy is a method of monitoring patients after initial three-month treatment and adjusting the treatment interval. It is a widely used treatment method around the world by overcoming the shortcomings of the post-treatment method, such as PRN therapy, which is more efficient than fixed treatment cycles and continues treatment when symptoms worsen. Dailypharm listened to the meaning of changing minimum administration cycle of Eyelea through Director Jang Woo-hyuk. Director Jang served as a clinical doctor at the Wills Eye Institute at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia and a professor at the ophthalmology department at Yeungnam University University. Director Jang Woo-hyuk Macular degeneration begins with dryness and progresses into habit. Dry macular degeneration is a stage in which only wastes accumulate in the retina. When waste accumulates and oxygen permeation becomes difficult, new blood vessels are created to forcibly supply oxygen. In the process, abnormal neoplasms bleed and exudates leak out. This stage is wet macular degeneration. Failure to receive proper treatment can lead to blindness. The number of patients with habitual macular degeneration is also rapidly increasing due to rapid aging. Director Jang said, "There are overwhelmingly many elderly patients in the clinical field. This is because aging is the biggest cause of wet macular degeneration. Environmentally Westernized eating habits and the increase in adult diseases are also affecting it, he explained. The most important goal of treating wet macular degeneration is to preserve vision that can maintain the quality of life. Therefore, it can be seen that the core of the treatment is to restore vision as much as possible with initial active treatment and then maintain vision at least with damage. The drug mainly used for treatment is an anti-VEGF injection. Representative treatments include Eylea and Lucentis, and recently Beovu has also emerged as new treatment options. The medical staff determines the drug according to the patient's condition because the medication cycle varies slightly from drug to drug. According to IQVIA, a pharmaceutical market research firm, Eyelea is the treatment that generates the most sales in Korea, recording sales of 70.5 billion won last year. In response to the recent reduction in the minimum administration interval for Eyelea to four weeks, Director Jang said, "There was clearly a need for injections at clinical sites at shorter intervals than eight weeks. Even after injection treatment every eight weeks, there are no signs of deterioration, no improvement, or persistent exudation causes vision to gradually decrease," he said. "In the past, in this case, we had no choice but to use off-label drugs or increase the dose, but even this was not very effective. The reduction of the minimum administration interval of Eylea to four weeks is a very welcome change," he said. Reducing the administration interval to 4 weeks mainly occurs in long-term treatment. This is because the drug's effectiveness decreases even if it is injected every eight weeks because of long treatment. "There are few patients who need to be treated every four weeks from the beginning. If resistance develops or the effectiveness of the drug decreases after a year or two of treatment, we will consider shortening the interval," he added. In order to perform only four-week intervals, anatomical examinations must show clear deterioration. There are still ambiguous situations where it is difficult to boldly apply the four-week interval. Director Jang explained, "This is the case when it continues to not deteriorate when it is done every eight weeks, or when there are findings of exudation in monitoring, it is better than eight weeks ago." He said, "At this time, medical staff tend to worry about reducing the interval to four weeks and then reducing the benefit. Since the four-week interval has not been long since it was applied, it is difficult to reduce it to four weeks unless there are clear deterioration findings," he said. Patients with good treatment effects are treated by widening the interval to a maximum of 16 weeks. According to Director Jang, about 20 to 30% of all patients show good treatment results, extending it to 16 weeks. "The longer the injection period is, the more patients are satisfied. There may be anxiety about watching without treatment for four months, but experience has shown that the symptoms rarely worsen severely among patients who have extended it to 16 weeks. If there is any recurrence, the interval will be reduced by two weeks again, he said.
