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- 2026-04-13 01:42:36
- Opinion
- [Reporter’s View] Mutual understanding is required
- by Kim, Jin-Gu Feb 04, 2022 05:57am
- The National Health Insurance Service made a pre-announcement for the amendment of the detailed guidelines of the ‘Price-Volume Agreement.’ The Price-Volume Agreement, or PVA, is a system that discounts a drug’s price by up to 10% through negotiation between the pharmaceutical company and NHIS for products whose use volume had rapidly increased. The system was implemented to save NHI finances. The current system has been in place since 2014 after the system was implemented in 2007, therefore the move for its improvement seems timely. However, the NHIS and the pharmaceutical industry have mixed opinions on how to amend the system. This clash is most prominent in the matter of deciding whether to expand or reduce the scope of eligibility of the system. The NHIS believes more pharmaceuticals should be applied the system through an amendment. In other words, the authorities plan to reduce the scope of pharmaceuticals that are exempt from PVA negotiations, therefore applying the system to a broader range of pharmaceuticals. In detail, the authorities had planned to narrow the exclusion criteria to ‘below 90% of the arithmetic mean price’ from the ‘below the arithmetic mean price of same ingredient drugs,’ Under the new criteria, products subject to PVA negotiations would increase to 69 from the 59 reviewed in the previous year. On the other hand, the industry claims that the scope of exclusion should be increased to reduce even just one more pharmaceutical subject to price cuts. Currently, products that file an annual claims amount of less than ₩1.5 billion every year are excluded from PVA negotiations. The industry claims that this limit should be raised to ₩5 billion or even ₩10 billion, The NHIS had partially accepted the industry claims and can accept increasing the ceiling to ₩2 billion from the current ₩1.5 billion. Disregarding the complex calculations in place, the clashing values of the industry and NHIS are clear. The NHIS prioritizes ‘sustainability in NHI finances,’ whereas the industry prioritizes ‘concern over reverse discrimination of homegrown new drugs.’ Neither side can be 100% right, and no side should be forcing its claim on the other. This is why the NHIS’s past actions leave some room for disappointment. The NHIS had continuously emphasized that “the industry needs to understand and sympathize” with the NHIS’s position. Although the words “understand” and “sympathy” were used, in context it is more coercion than persuasion. Under the inviolability rationale of protecting the sustainably of our national health insurance, the sacrifice of the pharmaceutical industry was dismissed as a ‘trivial’ matter. The NHIS had planned to enforce the guidelines effective as of January 1st this year. However, the authorities held back from implementing the amendment due to strong opposition from the pharmaceutical industry and said it will prepare a better The industry believes that the amendments will be disclosed soon. However, one clear thing is that neither side can unilaterally continue to force understanding and sympathy on the other’s part. It is this reporter’s hope that an improvement on which both sides can truly understand and agree on could be reached soon.
- Company
- SK Bioscience appoints former BMS lead Pa-leun Kim as VP
- by Eo, Yun-Ho Feb 04, 2022 05:57am
- VP Pa-leun Kim SK Bioscience is making continued efforts to strengthen the company’s capability by recruiting talents to make the leap forward and become a global vaccine company. According to industry sources, SK Bioscience appointed Pa-leun Kim (44), former Lead at Bristol-Myers Squibb Korea, as its Vice President of Communication and Government Affairs. The company had been stepping up efforts to develop its COVID-19 vaccine while expanding its CMO business with the appointment of CEO Jae-Yong Ahn (54) in April last year. In addition to expanding its manufacturing facilities, the company has also been recruiting new talent in various areas since last year. The company's R&D personnel alone increased by 30% last year. VP Pa-leun Kim had served in the Office of the Presidential Secretary for Public Affairs at Cheong Wa Dae for 5 years since 2008 before starting his career in the pharmaceutical industry in 2013 at GSK Korea. At GSK, Kim was in charge of the company’s general communications and government affairs, promoted Fluarix Tetra’s release in Korea, and led Consumer Healthcare CGA and Communication & Government Affairs. After moving to BMs, Kim continued to accumulate extensive experience in public affairs and government affairs serving as the lead of Government Affairs & Policy. Kim acquired a bachelor’s degree in International Politics at The University of Sheffield, and a Master of Science in Forced Migration and Development Studies at Oxford University. SK Bioscience signed a CMO contract with AstraZeneca to manufacture its COVID-19 vaccine drug substance and the finished product in July 2020. In August of the same year, the company also signed a CDMO agreement with Novavax to develop and manufacture its COVID-19 vaccine. After signing a technology transfer agreement with Novavax in February last year, the company secured the rights to manufacture and sell Novavax’s COVID-19 vaccine and is also developing its COVID-19 vaccine NBP2001 and GBP510 (with aluminum adjuvant AS03).
- Policy
- Janssen Korea has obtained permission
- by Lee, Tak-Sun Feb 04, 2022 05:56am
- Janssen Korea has been approved by the MFDS for Pharmaceutical Consignment Permission for Manufacturing Business. This can be interpreted as part of the withdrawal of the Hyangnam plant. If Janssen Korea completely withdraws its Hyangnam plant, there will be no Janssen Korea plant facilities in Korea. The MFDS approved the "Manufacturing Business" of Janssen Korea as of the 26th. Drug consignment Manufacturing Business does not have domestic production facilities, but is granted to companies that are licensed for manufacturing items through consignment manufacturers. So far, 11 companies have received it. Among the nation's history, GL Pharm Tech , Corepharmbio, Crystalgenimics, Gunkang, Woosung,iN Therapeutics received a permit, and multinational pharmaceutical companies, including Organon Korea, Abbott, AstraZeneca, Moderna Korea and Janssen Korea. Janssen Korea's acquisition of a pharmaceutical consignment manufacturing and sales business is linked to the withdrawal of its Hyangnam plant. Janssen Korea stopped operating its Hyangnam plant last year. When the acquisition process is completed in the future, the factory will be used by Whanin. Janssen Korea is organizing items following the suspension of its Hyangnam plant. There are nine Janssen's remaining manufacturing permits. Among them, three items are for export and three items are commissioned and manufactured by Handok. Domestic sales items manufactured by themselves are organized into Tylenol 80mg for children, Tylenol 160mg for children, and Tylenol suspension. In the case of children's Tylenol suspension, the MFDS has currently applied for the withdrawal of permission. The remaining 80 items approved by Janssen Korea are all imported finished products. In the case of Ultracet Semi, Ultracet ER, and Ultracet ER semi, technology transfer to Handok is being produced on consignment, so Janssen needed permission to "consignment manufacturing and sales" even if the factory was withdrawn. There are two domestic pharmaceutical production facilities for multinational pharmaceutical companies: Otsuka Pharmaceutical Korea (Hyangnam Plant) and Janssen Vaccine (Songdo Plant).
- Company
- Organon Korea's Cozaar XQ will be resupplied
- by Feb 04, 2022 05:56am
- Original product for Losartan can be reproduced and prescribed in early February. Organon's HTN treatment Cozaar XQ, which was suspended due to detection of impurities above the standard last year, will be resupplied at the end of this month. Organon (CEO Kim So-eun) announced on the 27th that it will be able to re-supply Cozaar XQ from the end of this month and prescribe it from early February. Cozaar XQ, the original product, was suspended from shipping after an impurity test conducted in November last year detected more than the standard level. No impurities were detected in the same Losartan, Cozaar and Cozaar Plus. Organon replaced Cozaar XQ with French raw materials such as Cozaar and Cozaar Plus to reproduce. Normal products will begin to be supplied at the end of this month. An official from Organon said, "The Coza family, such as Cozaar and Cozaar Plus, is an original Losartan distributed through strict quality management systems and demanding production processes by global pharmaceutical companies Organon, and Cozaar also produced Azido with undetected original Losartan." Organon added that it is making every effort to be prescribed without a hitch from February through the rapid supply and demand of Cozaar XQ. In addition, the symposium Re-launching Cozaar XQ will be held in six cities in Seoul, Suwon, Daegu, Daejeon, Busan and Gwangju from February to March. Along with the results of non-detection of impurities in the Cozaar family, Organon plans to emphasize initial therapy in patients with second stage hypertension who need to be administered with a combination to reach their treatment target blood pressure.
- Company
- Sales of Statin/Ezetimibe have surpassed ₩600 billion
- by Chon, Seung-Hyun Feb 03, 2022 05:57am
- In the dyslipidemia treatment market, a combination of Statin + Ezetimibe is gaining explosive popularity. The annual prescription market has more than quadrupled over the past five years, exceeding 600 billion won. Rosuvastatin +Ezetimibe is leading the market growth. According to UBIST, a pharmaceutical research institute, the amount of outpatient prescriptions for Statin +Ezetimibe was 609.9 billion won, up 23.1% from the previous year. It increased 52.3% in two years from 40.4 billion won in 2019. It showed rapid growth every year from 136.9 billion won in 2016 to 345.4% in five years. Sales of Rosuvastatin and Ezetimibe are forming the largest market. Last year, the prescription amount of Rosuvastatin and Ezetimibe was 436.3 billion won, up 18.8% from the previous year. The market size has more than tripled in five years from 56 billion won in 2016. Rosuvastatin and Ezetimibe account for 71.5% of Statin and Ezetimibe market. The market for Rosuvastatin and Ezetimibe began in 2015 when Hanmi Pharmaceutical launched Rosuzet. Rosuzet recorded a prescription performance of 123.2 billion won last year, up 17.4% from the previous year, contributing the most to the expansion of Statin and Ezetimibe markets. Hanmi Pharmaceutical has secured the right to use Ezetimibe from MSD and has recorded high growth rates since entering the market before its competitors, ranking first in the same ingredient market. Rosuzet ranked second among all medicines. For the first time in 2020, it exceeded 100 billion won in prescriptions and was named the "100 billion won club" for the second consecutive year. Last year, it ranked second in prescription amount after Lipitor among all medicines. A total of 10 companies recorded more than 10 billion won in prescriptions last year, playing a role as a cash cow. Yuhan Corporation's Rosuvamibe rose 7.8% from the previous year to 62 billion won in prescriptions last year. HK inno.N, GC Pharma, Daewoong, Huons, Jeil, Kyung Dong, Hutechs, and Myungmoon recorded more than 10 billion won in prescription amount in the Rosuvastatin and Ezetimibe market last year. Last year, Atorvastatin-Ezetimibe market showed great growth. The prescription amount of Atorvastatin-Ezetimibe was 128.8 billion won, up 55.6% in a year from 82.8 billion won in 2020. With the release of a huge number of Atozet's generics, the market size expanded in a short period of time. MSD's Atozet was the only one generic until 2020. Since last year, the size of the market has risen significantly as more than 100 domestic companies have joined at the same time. In October 2020, Chong Kun Dang's Lipilouzet went through a clinical trial in October last year and was approved. At this time, 22 companies' generics for Lipilouzet were approved and were listed from April last year. Since February last year, 88 additional pharmaceutical companies' generic for Atozet have started to be approved. Since January 22, when Atozet's review period expired, it has been approved for sale simultaneously since applying for permission and registered in May, a month later than generic for Lipilouzet. As Korus Pharm and Mirae Pharm were approved for generics for Atozet in June last year, the number of domestic companies that have entered the Atozet market over the past year has increased to 113. Sales of Simvastatin+Ezetimibe slowed down. Last year, the prescription amount of the Simvastatin+Ezetimibe was 43 billion won, down 5.3% from the previous year. It is down 23.6% from five years ago. Simvastatin+Ezetimibe, the original product of MSD's Vytorin, was first released in Statin-Etimibe market, but its growth is stagnant. Amount of outpatient prescriptions for Statin + Ezetimibe by year (unit: 100 million won, data: UBIST)
- InterView
- Era of ₩30 bil novel homegrown drug Suganon begins now
- by Feb 03, 2022 05:57am
- Annual sales of the 26th homegrown new drug ‘Suganon (evogliptin)’ family that was developed by Dong-A ST has reached ₩30 billion 5 years into its release. During an interview with Dailypharm, Sung-Woo Lee, the GPM who oversees the marketing of Suganon, said, “Market share of Suganon has been steadily increasing due to its superior efficacy data, such as its strong effect in lowering blood sugar levels and its stable maintenance of glycemic variability, as well as efforts to improve convenience in intake. With our product line-up, expanded indication, and active efforts to expand to the overseas market, we will continue to grow our homegrown new drug.” ◆Last latecomer Suganon makes a winning bid with ‘evidence’ Sungwoo Lee, Suganon GPM at Dong-A ST The DPP-4 inhibitor Suganon had not always been such a success. When the drug was released in March 2016, the DPP-4 inhibitor market was full of fierce competition with products from both multinational and domestic companies. MSD’s Januvia had been raising ₩140 billion in outpatient prescriptions in collaboration with Chong Kun Dang. Trajenta, which has been copromoted by Boehringer Ingelheim and Yuhan Corp had also raised ₩100 billion, and LG Chem’s individually developed Zemiglo raised ₩50 billion. In other words, it was already a difficult environment for a latecomer drug like Suganon to penetrate. After GPM Lee took charge of marketing Suganon in 2019, he had earnestly sought measures to differentiate the product from the other products. As a result, Suganon’s stronger blood sugar level lowering effect among DPP-4 inhibitors was emphasized and reaffirmed through the EVERGREEN clinical trial. Lee said, “Suganon’s sales increased after the drug’s differentiated effect was published in the SCI paper ‘DOM,’ in which the drug demonstrated a strong blood sugar level lowering effect and evidence with a new index, glycemic variability. Last year, the combination drug ‘Sugamet’ that contains both Suganon and metformin drove Suganon’s sales growth. Dong-A ST used metformin to reduce the tablet size of Sugamet twice. Last year, Sugamet recorded the highest growth among the 21 DPP-4 inhibitor products, with a 39.7% growth in sales. Lee said, “Suganon’s market share, which was the lowest among 9 DPP-4 inhibitors by 2018, rose to exceed 5% for the first time last year due to accumulated clinical data and its improved convenience in administration. ◆Suagnon increases domestic market share and heads out globally However, the company is not stopping there and is aiming higher. First of all, the company is expanding the Suganon lineup in line with the current trend in diabetes treatment. The new combination Dong-A ST had been working on since 3 years ago is a combination of Suganon and an SGLT-2 inhibitor ‘dapagliflozin (product name: Forxiga).’ With the need to introduce a new combination drug, the company had started clinical trials in full scale. Among DPP-4+SGLT-2 combination drugs, Boehringer Ingelheim’s ‘Esglito,’ MSD’s ‘Stegluzan,’ AstraZeneca’s ‘Qtern’ were approved, but none are being prescribed in earnest yet due to reimbursement issues. However, as the insurance authorities are discussing accepting the ‘class effect’ of SGLT-2 inhibitor combinations, the industry is looking forward to future changes in the environment. Dong-A ST is also in the midst of clinical for its DPP-4+SGLT-2 combination with the goal of launching the drug in the second half of next year. Dong-A ST has also started a global clinical trial for the calcific aortic valve disease indication. Dong-A ST will be conducting a Phase II/III trial led by Rednvia, which was jointly established by Dong-A ST and Bionvia. Lee explained, “We had confirmed Suganon’s strong effect in calcific aortic valve disease in animal models in the Phase II trial, and started Phase II/III clinical trials at various medical institutions including the Mayo clinic that will be completed by 2025. As 3% to 25% of patients over 65 are estimated to have the condition in North America, we believed it has high marketability for the indication there.” The Suganon family is recording active sales overseas as well. Starting in Indica in 2019, Suganon was also released in Russia, Brazil, and Argentina. The company is preparing to release Suganon in many other Latin American countries this year.
- Policy
- 45 generics of Dapagliflozin+Sitagliptin were approved
- by Lee, Tak-Sun Feb 03, 2022 05:57am
- MSD Dapagliflozin+Sitaglipin from 45 companies, which can only be sold in September next year, has been approved. Analysts say that the number of licensed companies is increasing as Dongkoo and Daewon, which succeeded in developing products, start supplying generics. On the 28th, the MFDS approved 13 additional items of Dapagliflozin+Sitagliptin. As a result, the number of Dapagliflozin+Sitaglipin increased to 45. Forxiga is an SGLT-2 inhibitory diabetes treatment and has recently grown rapidly in the diabetes treatment market. Forxiga, the original drug, recorded 42.6 billion won in outpatient prescriptions (based on UBIST) last year. Januvia has long been leading the market with DPP-4 inhibitory drugs. MSD's Januvia recorded an outpatient prescription of 459 won last year. Two single drugs are widely used as diabetes treatments, and they are often used in combination. Therefore, it is analyzed that when a combination of the two ingredients is released, the convenience of taking them will increase, and the prescription performance will increase. Due to this expectation, it is interpreted that there were many requests for the production of consigned items from Daewon and Dongkoo. So far, a total of 15 items have been approved by Daewon, including the company, and a total of 30 items have been approved by Dongkoo. Daewon's Dapacombi 10/100mg and Dongkoo's Sitaflozin 10/100mg were approved, respectively, in December last year. Both drugs are the first combinations to contain Dapagliflozin 10mg and Sitagliptin 100mg. These drugs are believed to have signed contracts and applied for permission before July last year when the consignment BA restriction system was implemented. However, these products are not immediately available for sale. Both ingredients cannot be sold to the market before September 2023 because the material patents have not expired. At the same time, there is no standard for insurance benefits for the SGLT-2+DPP-4 complex. However, insurance benefits applied by the existing licensed complex systems are expected to be completed soon, so it is expected that insurance benefits will be easily obtained before the launch in September 2023.
- Company
- Hepatitis C market in decline due to superior treatment
- by Ji Yong Jun Feb 03, 2022 05:56am
- The hepatitis C treatment market had contracted for two consecutive years since 2020. The annual decline in the number of hepatitis C patients and the introduction of effective drugs is analyzed to have caused the contraction. According to the market research institution UBIST on the 29th, outpatient prescription of hepatitis C treatments recorded ₩35.1 billion last year, which was a 26.1% decline from the previous year. This is one-fourth the ₩135.2 billion that was made in outpatient prescriptions in 2017. The market had been declining for the past 4 years, reducing 45.5% to ₩73.7 billion in 2018, then to ₩65 billion in 2019, and to ₩47.4 billion in 2020. (DATA=UBIST)The overall market contraction was due to the reduced prescription of the market’s lead product, Abbvie’s ‘Mavyret.’ Mavyret sold ₩26.3 billion last year, a 26.4% reduction from the 26.3 billion in the previous year. Mavyret is a direct-acting antiviral (DAA) that was introduced in the market in the fourth quarter of 2018 that may be prescribed to all hepatitis C genotypes and has a cure rate of 99%. The drug can be taken once daily in 3 tablets with food, and its administration period is 8 weeks, 4 weeks shorter than other treatments. Mavyret had stood out in the market due to this differentiated effect at the time of its release, and sold ₩7.5 billion in prescriptions in only three months after its release. In 2019, prescriptions soared to ₩44.5 billion, transforming the market. However, since 2020, its prescription amount recorded ₩35.7 billion and fell 21.8% from the previous year. This is due to the characteristic of hepatitis C treatments. Hepatitis C is transmitted through exposure to an infected person’s blood. Many are asymptomatic and patients find out their condition after disease progression, 80% of which develops chronic hepatitis C, and 20% to cirrhosis of the liver or liver cancer. Also, the number of Hepatitis C patients has been decreasing every year. According to the National Health Insurance Services, 8.647 new patients have been diagnosed with hepatitis C in 2020. This is an 11.5% annual decrease in average from the 14,087 diagnosed in 2016. With the number of patients reducing every year as such, the industry interprets that the market had to contract due to the introduction of a novel new drug that can fully cure the condition. Also, other drugs have seen a decline in sales or withdrew from the market due to the introduction of Mavyret. Gilead Science’s ‘Sovaldi’ sold 77% less than the previous year to record ₩210 million last year. Sovaldi had been the lead product in the hepatitis C treatment market before the introduction of Mavyret. Just in 2017, outpatient prescription of Sovaldi recorded ₩84.3 billion. For example, sales of Abbvie's ‘Viekreia’ and ‘Exviera’ dropped sharply to reach an uncountable amount from 2020. However, outpatient prescriptions of Sovaldi fell over half to ₩37.7 billion the next year. In 2019, it once again dropped 89.7% from the previous year to record ₩3.9 billion. Prescription of Gilead’s other hepatitis C treatment ‘Harvoni’ decreased 14.7% from the previous year to ₩8.1 billion. This is over a half reduction from the ₩17.6 billion in 2017. Another hepatitis C treatment, MSD’s ‘Zepatier’ was released in the second quarter of 2017, and recorded ₩30 billion in outpatient sales by 2018. However, its demand fell sharply from the following year, losing the competition to Mavyret and Sovladi. Last year, outpatient prescriptions for Zepatier recorded ₩430 million, a 61% drop the previous year. BMS’s ‘Daklinza’ and ‘Sunvepra’ withdrew from the Korean market. The two products had recorded a 15% share in the Hepatitis C treatment market in 2017, then continued to lose their share to Mavyret and Sovladi. The products were discontinued supply in 2020, and BMS voluntarily withdrew the marketing authorization of the two products in March last year.
- Company
- Competition in the narcolepsy tx market is expected
- by Eo, Yun-Ho Feb 03, 2022 05:56am
- Competition for prescription of drugs that prevent sleepiness and manage so-called narcolepsy has begun. According to related industries, competition with Teva Handok's Nuvigil (Armodafinil) is expected as Wakix (Pitolisant) of Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma will be applied from next month (February). Wakix is a counteractive and antagonist that selectively binds to histamine H3 receptors and is a new mechanism for increasing histamine concentration in the brain. Nuvigil, an active isomer of the sleep attack treatment Provigil, is a drug that promotes awakening by activating dopamine in the brain and improves the duration of existing drugs. Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma is currently undergoing prescription procedures at major medical institutions nationwide, including the Big 5 hospitals, ahead of the launch of the benefit. Nuvigil, listed in September 2018, can be prescribed at medical institutions nationwide, including Seoul National University Hospital, Sinchon Severance Hospital, and Samsung Medical Center. Narcolepsy is currently included in a rare and intractable disease, and 10% of patients' coverage is applied. Meanwhile, narcolepsy is a sleep disorder disease characterized by abnormal expression of sleep-wake cycle confusion and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep due to the loss of neurons that produce a neurotransmitter called Hypocretin in the brain. Representative symptoms include Excessive Daytime Sleepiness (EDS) and cataplexy, in which REM sleep is expressed in an awakening state.
- Company
- An unexpected story by Organon and Viatris
- by Jan 28, 2022 05:58am
- Organon and Viatris' patent expired drugs remain powerful. Although questions have been raised about the growth engines of the two independent corporations after receiving "old drugs" from MSD and Pfizer, it is evaluated that it is as good as in Korea. ◆Organon's Atozet and Cozaar's outpatient prescription is 250 billion won According to UBIST, a drug research institute, on the 28th, Organon, which was launched in June last year, exerted the power of patent-expired drugs. Last year, Organon's outpatient prescription estimate was 252.4 billion won. This is the sum of the outpatient prescriptions for items transferred to Organon among MSD products. It accounts for 58% of the 437.5 billion won prescription for MSD. The amount of outpatient prescriptions for Organon products grew 5.4% compared to 239.4 billion won in 2016. Organon is a company spun off from MSD. It took over Atozet, Cozaar, Singulair, and Nasonex, which are "Old Drugs." Most of Organon's products showed growth even though they were patented expired drugs that compete with generic products. Atozet is a large item that recorded 86.8 billion won in outpatient prescriptions last year. The number of prescriptions more than tripled over the past six years from 24.7 billion won in 2016. Due to the expiration of patents in January last year, the release of more than 100 generics also rose 4.9% from the previous year. Cozaar is an old drug that has been 25 years since its launch, and when generic was released in 2008, sales of 70 billion won collapsed. However, sales of prescriptions have been on the rise again recently. It increased 15.8% from 25.7 billion won in 2016 to 29.7 billion won last year. In particular, Cozaar is one of the products that did not exceed the standard value during the Losartan impurity crisis last year. The amount of prescriptions surged in December last year as demand flocked to the original due to concerns over impurities.Organone also has Propesia, a hair loss treatment. It is widely used not only for prostate hypertrophy treatment but also for hair loss treatment as a non- reimbursed drug. It is estimated that it generates more than 40 billion won in sales in Korea. ◆Lipitor, 22 years since its launch, 200 billion won in sales Founded in November 2020, Viatris posted the largest number of outpatient prescriptions among multinational pharmaceutical companies last year. Viartris' outpatient prescription amount last year was 463.9 billion won, up 15.8% from 40.5 billion won in 2016. Although it decreased 0.3% from the previous year, it is good compared to the 2 to 7% drop in prescriptions by many multinational pharmaceutical companies amid prolonged Corona. Viatris is a company merged with Pfizer Upjohn and Mylan, a Pfizer patent expiration business. Lipitor, Novasc, Lyrica, Cerebrex, and Viagra have been transferred to Viartris. Lipitor has been 22 years since its launch, but it has been recorded as the most prescribed drug for the fourth consecutive year. Lipitor recorded 205.2 billion won, an increase of 0.7% last year, after surpassing 200 billion won in outpatient prescriptions in 2020. The scale has increased 23.4% from 2016. Celebrex, a COX-2 inhibitor, also recorded 46.3 billion won in outpatient prescriptions, up 3.6% from the previous year. At one time, the prescription amount fell to 36.5 billion won due to the launch of generic and the subsequent drop in drug prices, but has recovered to around 40 billion won since 2018. Lyrica and Norvasc, which were released in 2006 and 1991, are still paying nearly 70 billion won in outpatient prescriptions. The two products, worth 60.1 billion won and 62.6 billion won in 2016, respectively, grew 16.3% and 10.3% over six years. ◆ Price competitiveness and domestic business network When generics such as salt change items are released, the market share of original drugs drops rapidly. However, in the domestic market, despite the intensive check of generics, original drugs that expire patents are showing off their robustness. Due to the nature of the drug price system in Korea, generic's price competitiveness is low, so the original is advantageous for expanding its market share. Market sales of patent-expired drugs have been established more firmly due to the sales price of domestic pharmaceutical companies. Viatris' Lipitor, Lyrica, and Celebrex are jointly sold by Jeil. Organon's Atozet is co-sold by Chong Kun Dang.
