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- 2026-04-16 14:43:38
- Policy
- Lipiodol's suspension of price cuts has been extended
- by Kim, Jung-Ju Jul 27, 2020 09:41am
- The court decided to extend the suspension of drug price cuts against Guerbet Korea's Lipiodol Ultra Liquid (Iodized oil, 12.8g/10mL). The court set the suspension period to 30 days from the date of the sentence of judgment in preparation for prolonged litigation. Seoul Administrative Court decided to suspend execution of a decision related to Lipiodol in the 'Pharmaceutical reimbursed list and the upper limit table (Notice No. 2020-124)' promoted by the MOHW in June. Earlier, the MOHW planned to lower the drug price on the 1st of this month at the same time as Fattiodol (generic for Lipiodol) by Dongkook was listed. According to the government’s drug price formula, the MOHW lowers the upper limit of the product with the same route, ingredient, and formulation as the first listed product. If the government cuts the drug price as planned, Lipiodol 12.8g/10mL will drop 30% from ₩19,000 to ₩133,000. It will be regulated once again from ₩13,000 to ₩101,745. However, the court will make a final decision as the company raises issues with the government's decision. According to the suspension, the previous drug price of ₩190,000 will be temporarily held until the 30th day from the date of judgment. The final date has not been set.
- Company
- MFDS to tighten up regulations on appetite suppressant
- by jung, sae-im Jul 27, 2020 06:31am
- The South Korean health authority drafted regulations preventing the abuse of psychoactive appetite suppressants. The draft contains high-level of regulations like adopting active substance designation system used in narcotics control, which can heavily impact the relevant industry. According to pharmaceutical industry sources on July 24, Korea’s Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) is planning to manage psychoactive appetite suppressants. Some of the approaches unveiled were introducing quarterly active substance designation system like the narcotics control, notifying amfepramone and mazindol as restricted substance, and designating psychoactive appetite suppressants as subjects to submit a risk management plan (RMP). Psychoactive appetite suppressant management plan drafted by MFDS First, the quarterly substance designation system is used by the government to control narcotic drugs in Korea in accordance to the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961. The government intends to enforce the system to handle the appetite suppressant on the equivalent level to narcotic drugs. The current system designates each company on which narcotic substance to supply after reviewing the projected yearly use volume of narcotic substance and quarterly plan of active psychoactive drug use submitted by each supplier company from the previous year. When the result is notified to each company, the narcotic drug manufacturers are allowed to purchase the active substance strictly following the designation conditions. MFDS sketched out a plan to survey each company’s inventory this year, and enforce the new regulation from 2021 after finalizing and notifying the appetite suppressant manufacturing approval plan in November. When the new regulation comes in effect, the drug manufacturers can only manufacture the suppressant drugs as much as the government allows. Basically, the government would be invested with the power to set down the manufacturing volume of psychoactive appetite suppressant. Moreover, the government aims to newly restrict approval on amfepramone and mazindol. The official notification would be issued around August. In the past, the approval on phentermine and phendimetrazine has been restricted due to frequent reports of abuse. The ministry now plans to expand the restricted scope of substances and include amfepramone and mazindol. The designated substance drugs may be restricted when seeking for narcotic drug handling approval, manufacturing or importation approval. Lastly, the ministry plans to designate psychoactive appetite suppressants as drugs required to submit a RMP. The system usually targets new drug or orphan drug, but a drug the Minister of Food and Drug Safety acknowledges the need for RMP submission due to severe adverse reaction reported may also be designated. MFDS is shooting for early next year to enforce the designation. Pharmaceutical companies with drugs required to submit RMP have to comply with the plan and regularly submit evaluation result. Until the final designation is announced, the ministry is to recommend the companies to voluntarily practice risk minimization actions as a pilot program. Also the government body would soon survey demands on the pilot program from the participating companies. On July 21, MFDS convened a conference with the affected industry and shared the said details. The ministry would make final decisions after reviewing the industry’s opinion. Regardless of the abuse prevention and safe use policies enforced on appetite suppressants so far, MFDS has decided to take the stricter action as the drugs were still excessively prescribed. In 12 months time from July 2018 through June 2019, 24,000 healthcare institutes prescribed the appetite suppressants to 1.29 million patients, which adds up to 6.11 million cases of dispensing and use of the drugs. According to 2018-2019 technical reports published by International Narcotics Control Board (INCB), Korea’s phentermine and phendimetrazine substance importation volume is one of the highest in the world. Analyzing appetite suppressant prescription and administration data, the report confirmed frequent cases of abnormal use suspected of abuse. And apparently, these drugs have been globally criticized for the wide discrepancies between the submitted projection psychoactive drug substance use volume and the actual manufactured volume. However, the relevant industry points out the blueprint of the regulation do not match with the goal of preventing drug abuse. An industry insider who requested anonymity noted, “The government should rather actively promote drug administration instruction or safe use, if the drug abuse is the issue. Many of the industry associates say regulating and controlling the actual manufacturing and production of the drugs is inadequate.” Meanwhile, the obesity treatment market in Korea, including the psychoactive appetite suppressant market, is valued at approximately 150 billion won.
- Policy
- Janssen launches clinical trial of Lazertinib-Amivantamab
- by Lee, Tak-Sun Jul 27, 2020 06:27am
- Janssen is conducting a clinical trial of Lazertinib for non-small cell lung cancer treatment with Amivantamab (JNJ-61186372). In 2018, Yuhan had transferred its technology of Lazertinib, a third-generation EGFR targeted anticancer drug to Janssen, to a total of ₩1.4 trillion. The MFDS approved IND for clinical trial for Phase Ib of Lazertinib-Amivantamab submitted by Janssen Korea on the 24th. Yuhan is currently leading the clinical trial of Lazertinib in Korea. Yuhan is conducting a phase III clinical trial of primary treatment for patients with locally advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer with positive epithelial growth factor receptor-activating mutations. This clinical trial conducted by Janssen Korea is to evaluate the safety and pharmacokinetics of combination therapy with JNJ-73841937 (Lasertinib), the 3rd generation EGFR-TKI monotherapy or human bispecific EGFR and cMet antibody JNJ-61186372 (Amivantamab). As a multinational clinical trial, 8 of the 120 subjects were domestic. Clinical trials will be conducted at Bundang Seoul National University Hospital, Samsung Medical Center, Seoul National University Hospital, and Yonsei Severance Hospital. Janssen launched a large-scale global clinical trial in September last year to evaluate the combination of Amivantamab and Lasertinib. In particular, Johnson & Johnson (J&J) group has high expectations to point out the combination therapy as a promising pipeline. Janssen's goal is to complete the application for approval to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) by 2023. In this combined clinical trial, Yuhan announced in April that it would receive a technical fee of $35 million from Janssen. It is noteworthy whether Janssen will succeed in debuting a new drug for non-small cell lung cancer developed by Korean pharmaceutical company.
- Policy
- No serious adverse effects for Duvie have been reported
- by Lee, Tak-Sun Jul 24, 2020 01:22pm
- After 6 years of post-marketing investigation of Duvie (Lobeglitazone sulfate), a new diabetes drug developed by Chong Kun Dang, serious adverse effects that cannot rule out a causal relationship with the drug has not been reported. The results of this PMS are positive because Thiazolidinediones (TZD) drugs had issue of side effects. The MFDS announced that it has prepared a proposal to change the permits according to the results of the recent re-examination of Lobeglitazone sulfate formulation, and will accept comments by August 4. Products including Lobeglitazone sulfate have a total of 5 items including Duvie 0.5mg by Chong Kun Dang in July 2013, and Duvimet XR (Lobeglitazone sulfate-Metformin HCl). Duvie was subject to reexamination (PMS) until July 3 of last year. The post-market investigation for Duvie was conducted on 3,056 people in Korea for 6 years. As a result, the incidence of adverse effects was reported as 7.10% (217/3,056 people, 341 cases) regardless of the causal relation. 1.11% (34/3,056 people, 37 cases) showed serious adverse effects that were not related to causality. It is GI related adverse effect (less than 0.1%) such as IBS. However, no serious adverse drug reactions were reported. 25 unexpected cases (20/3056 people, 0.65%) that cannot be excluded from causality were reported, and facial edema was sometimes found. TZD-based drugs can cause or worsen CHF in some patients and should be administered with the care by physician. The MFDS reflected this in the product package insert. As a result of the post-marketing investigation by Duvie, edema was found in 14 of 107 patients (13.08%) with congestive heart failure in NYHA class I or II who received this drug for more than 52 weeks. In addition, hospitalization and exacerbation due to CHF were reported to be 0.93% (1/107), respectively. Duvie received attention because it was a TZD-based drug, such as Avandia (Rosiglitazone), which was withdrawn from the side effects of cardiovascular disease at the time of approval. However, since TZD-based drugs such as Actos (Pioglitazone,Takeda) resolve issue of side effects through clinical research, they have recently recorded high sales in the diabetes treatment market. Dubie recorded ₩19.2 billion in outpatient prescriptions based on UBIST last year, and has established a reputation as a successful new drug developed in the market.
- Company
- First-line Cyramza+Tarceva combo to treat NSLCL in Korea
- by Eo, Yun-Ho Jul 24, 2020 06:25am
- A targeted therapy combination option could be introduced to the non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) treatment area. The pharmaceutical industry sources reported, Lilly Korea has recently submitted an application to expand the drug’s indication to treat patients with NSCLC as a first-line combination treatment of vascular endothelial growth factor receptor (VEGFR)-2 antagonist Cyramza (ramucirumab) and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) Tarceva (erlotinib).. The combination therapy has been approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in last January and June, respectively. The new combination targeting VEGF and EGFR has demonstrated efficacy in patients with EGFR exon 19 deletion and exon 21 (L858R) mutation. The promising efficacy of the Cyramza-Tarceva combination therapy was confined in Phase III RELAY trial. In the study, ramucirumab-erlotinib combination has lowered the risk of disease progression or death by over 40 percent against erlotinib alone. And the patient group treated with the combination demonstrated progression-free survival (PFS) of 19.4 months, improving the figure more than erlotinib group by over seven months. The overall survival has not been evaluated, yet. The median time of follow-up was 20.7 months, and objective response rates (ORR) in Cyramza combination group (76.3 percent) and erlotinib group (74.7 percent) were similar. But the median duration of response in the two groups were contrasting with 18.0 months and 11.1 months. Currently in Korea, Cyramza is indicated to treat patients advanced or metastatic stomach cancer as second-line treatment; patients with advanced metastatic colorectal cancer, who have progressed on or after bevacizumab, oxaliplatin, or fluoropyrimidine treatment as combination therapy with FOLFIRI (irinotecan, folinic acid, 5-FU); and patients with metastatic NSCLC after disease progression on or after platinum-based chemotherapy as combination therapy with docetaxel. Besides Tarceva, Lilly also has other clinical trials in progress to confirm treatment efficacy of Cyramza combination therapies with other EGFR TKI like Iressa (gefitinib) or Tagrisso (osimertinib) in treating NSCLC.
- Company
- Genexine, promotes clinical trial of Hyleukin-7·Opdivo
- by An, Kyung-Jin Jul 24, 2020 06:24am
- Genexine announced on the 22nd that the anti-cancer drug 'Hyleukin-7' (GX-I7), which is under development with NeoImmuneTech, has entered a co-clinical trial with BMS. According to Genexine, phase II clinical trial that recently administered 'GX-I7' and BMS' immune checkpoint inhibitor 'Opdivo' (Nivolumab) in patients with metastatic gastric cancer, gastro-esophageal junctional cancer, and esophageal adenocarcinoma was approved by the Food and Drug Administration. Hyleukin-7 is an essential cytokine for the proliferation and maintenance of T cells, which play an important role in immunity in the body. The two companies expect that the combination of Hyleukin-7, which enhances T cells, and 'Opdibo,' a strategy to reactivate T cells that have lost activity, will be synergistic. In addition to Opdivo, 'Hyleukin-7' is being evaluated for its potential to be used in combination with various blockbuster immunocancer drugs. Hyleukin-7 by Genexine has previously entered a number of clinical trials such as ▲Phase Ib/IIa using Roche’s Tecentriq for high-risk skin cancer patients ▲Phase Ib/II in combination with Keytruda by Merck for patients with triple negative breast cancer ▲Phase Ib/IIa in combination with 'Keytruda' for pancreatic cancer, lung cancer, colorectal cancer, triple negative breast cancer, and small cell lung cancer, which have failed immunotherapy inhibitor treatment. In addition, Phase II clinical trials for patients with brain tumors (GBM) are in progress with I-MAB, a NASDAQ listed company. Sung Young-Chul, CEO of Genexine, said, "GX-I7 showed the possibility of treatment when combined with Keytruda in end-stage breast cancer patients based on the mechanism of restoring T-cell hypotension. We expect that Opdivo and GX-I7 combination therapy may be a new treatment option in patients with metastatic gastric and esophageal cancer."
- Policy
- Drug purchase per Korean is OECD average 1.3 times higher
- by Kim, Jung-Ju Jul 24, 2020 06:24am
- It was found that the sales of medicines per capita in Korea amounted to USD 643 US PPP. This is 1.3 times more than the OECD 49 PPP average among OECD member countries. Antidepressants are about one-third of the average in member countries, but antibiotics are still high, with 1.6 times more. The MOHW (Minister Park Neung-Hoo) analyzed the level and status of Korea and each country by major indicators of OECD Health Statistics 2020 published by the OECD. As a result of analyzing the behavior of health care use, the number of outpatient visits per capita in 2018 was 16.9 per year, the highest among OECD countries. This is 2.5 times higher than the average of 6.8 times in member countries. Looking at representative countries, Japan visited 12.6 times and was the second most frequent after Korea. On the other hand, some countries were less than three times. It was counted as 1.9 times in Colombia, 2.7 times in Sweden, and 2.8 times in Mexico. Looking at the amount of pharmaceutical sales and consumption in 2018, the amount of pharmaceutical sales per capita in Korea was 642.6 US dollars PPP, which was higher than the OECD average of 499.6 US dollars PPP. By country, countries such as Belgium (759.6), Czech Republic (740.0), and Germany (697.5) had more drug sales per capita than Korea. Looking at the consumption of major drugs, antidepressants were 21.0DDD/thousand/day (hereinafter referred to as DID), about 1/3 of the OECD average (64.3DID), while antibiotics were 29.8DID, about 1.6 of the OECD average (18.1DID). The life expectancy of Koreans is 82.7 years, which is higher than that of OECD countries (80.7 years), and the mortality rate of major diseases is generally lower than the OECD average. On the other hand, the percentage of people over the age of 15 who think they are healthy (32.0%) was the lowest among OECD countries. As a result of analyzing the health risk factors, the proportion of overweight and obesity (34.3%) among the population over 15 years old, which is a major cause of chronic diseases, was the second lowest among OECD countries. However, the daily smoking rate (17.5%) and the annual alcohol consumption per capita (8.5ℓ) of the population aged 15 years or older in Korea were OECD average. The average OECD smoking rate was 17% and alcohol consumption was 8.8l. Among medical resources, the level of physical resources such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and computed tomography (CT) is higher than the OECD average, and Hospital beds are 12.4 per 1,000 population, about 2.8 times the OECD average (4.5).. On the other hand, the MOHW explained that the number of physicians (including doctor of oriental medicine) is 2.4 per 1,000 population and the nursing workforce is 7.2 per 1,000 population, which means that human resources are small among OECD countries. In fact, the average number of physicians per 1,000 population of OECD is 3.5 and nursing staff is 8.9.
- Company
- 4 years on KOSPI Samsung Biologics to earn over KRW 1 tln
- by Lee, Seok-Jun Jul 24, 2020 06:24am
- Samsung Biologics is now in full swing to generate sales. This year’s sales are projected to exceed 1 trillion won as its profitability improves every year. In the first half of the year, the Korean company has inked a few contracts valued approximately at 1.8 trillion won, which would propel the company forward as future growth engine. The contracts would expand out to establish the fourth factorry and the second bio campus leveraging the economy of scale. On July 21, Samsung Biologics disclosed earning report that found the company’s sales have reached 514.9 billion won in the first half of the year, making a growth of 153.08 percent from the same time last year at 203.4 billion won. In the first and second quarter, the Korean company generated 207.2 billion won and 307.7 billion won, respectively. The second quarter sales have marked the second highest figure following last year’s fourth quarter (313.3 billion won). Based on the first two quarters, Samsung Biologics projects this year would be first year to break through the 1 trillion won mark. Samsung Biologics’ external growth has surged steeply since the listing. Starting from 294.6 billion won in 2016 when the company went public on KOSPI, Samsung Biologics has reached 464.6 billion won, 535.8 billion won and 701.6 billion won in 2017, 2018 and 2019, respectively. The company would triple sales in 2016 in merely four years, when the company surpasses the 1 trillion won mark this year. New deals in 2020 to make 1.8 trillion won Apparently, the Korean company’s sales growth would continue for a while. Samsung Biologics has sealed 440 billion won deal with Vir Biotechnology and 280 billion won deal with GSK this year alone. The two deals with the global companies are totaled at 1.8 trillion won, easily doubling last year’s sales of 701.6 billion won. Compared to last year’s order (approximately 450 billion won), the new deals would quadruple the amount. The company has strengthened its ‘one-stop service’ strategy and enhanced cost competitiveness based on vertical integration consisting contract research organization (CRO), contract development organization (CDO) and contract manufacturing organization (CMO), The notion of one-stop service has contributed to the company signing the global deals, but also it improved the company’s profitability. In the first half of the year, Samsung Biologics’ operating profit alone has reached 143.7 billion won. Although last year’s operating profit (91.7 billion won) set the historic high for the company, six months into this year the last year’s record is already 50 billion won behind. The company official elaborated, “The stable management over selling and administrative expense combined with increased profit margin have pushed up the operating profit by over 180 billion won compared to last year (-38.8 billion won).” Creating a positive cycle of ‘investment and performance’ The industry sources evaluate the company has created a positive cycle to generate revenue. As investment and performance are feeding each other, the company is also gaining more means to invest further. In fact, Samsung Biologics’ two manufacturing facilities are at full throttle with the consecutive signing of the global deals in last six months and expanded CMO deals with global companies. Its third facility is also filling up the order. The company is proactively reviewing the plans for the fourth facility and the second bio campus. The plan would be disclosed when the investment scale, peak performance and prospective business development timeline are drawn out.
- Policy
- SK Bioscience participates in supply of COVID-19 vaccine
- by Kim, Jung-Ju Jul 24, 2020 06:23am
- A domestic pharmaceutical bio company has been recognized for its production technology and has joined the world development leader multinational companies and the global production supply chain of COVID-19 vaccine. The government is trying to supply domestically some of the vaccines produced in Korea. The MOHW (Minister Park Neunghoo), today (21st) at 4 pm at the SK Bioscience Research Institute (Seongnam Pangyo), with AstraZeneca (CEO Pascal Soriot) and SK Biosciences (CEO Ahn Jae-yong), The AstraZeneca-Jenner Institute (University of Oxford) has signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) for a global supply of vaccine candidates under development and cooperation in securing domestic supplies. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the vaccine being developed by the AstraZeneca-Zener Institute is currently attracting attention from around the world as one of the most likely vaccines to enter Phase III of COVID-19 vaccine candidates. The vaccine has been in Phase III clinical trials in the UK, Brazil and South Africa since June. AstraZeneca and SK Biosciences have been participating in discussions as partners for global manufacturing and production. And the government explained that the result was achieved by signing LOI ( a Letter Of Intent) today. The signing ceremony for this LOI was attended by Minister Park Neunghoo, British Ambassador to the Republic of Korea Simon Smith, CEO Sang-Pyo Kim of AstraZeneca Korea, The vice president of SK Discovery Chey Chang-won , and SK Bioscience chief Ahn Jae-yong, It was conducted by the participation of AstraZeneca Global Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Pascal Soriot participated in the video conference. LOI included ▲ fast and stable production and export cooperation for the fair global supply of vaccines ▲ strengthened production capacity to respond to increasing demand ▲ domestic supply efforts, and three-way cooperation. The government explained that this is the first time that a domestic company has joined the global supply chain of excellent vaccines, which is gaining global attention, for the first time. The MOHW will continue to discuss that some of the vaccines produced by SK Biosciences will be supplied to Korea. It is expected to be a representative example of cooperation between the government and companies in the global epidemic of infectious diseases, in that it will secure a stable supply and demand system for successful vaccine development. The government will continue to pursue two-track strategy centered on the 'COVID-19 Treatment and Vaccine Development Support Committee,' which will continue to be shared by related ministries, and will continue to provide support for domestic companies' own vaccine development, as well as the rapid acquisition of overseas vaccines that are rapidly developing. At the signing ceremony, Minister Park said, "We are proud that Korean technology can contribute to the production of vaccines that are supplied to the world, and it is also a great achievement to establish a preemptive domestic supply and demand system," He also added, "The Korean government will also actively participate in the international community's solidarity efforts to ensure equitable distribution and accessibility since the development of the vaccine."
- Company
- Sales for Antibiotic Rx declined significantly
- by Chon, Seung-Hyun Jul 23, 2020 06:11am
- The prominent feature of the outpatient Rx drug market in the first half is that it was sluggish than in 2Q. COVID-19 also had an impact. When the fears of COVID-19 spread in February and March, the analysis revealed that patients had been receiving long-term prescriptions in advance and that prescription performance was poor. The prescription market was sluggish in April and May, but began rebounding all in June. The market for large-scale prescription drugs for chronic diseases showed a similar pattern. However, prescriptions of antibiotics or expectorants, which are frequently used in the Department of Pediatrics and Adolescents, were significantly reduced. According to UBIST on the 22nd, the Rx amount for the first half of Statins used to treat dyslipidemia was ₩497.4 billion, up 2.4% from the same period last year. Statins prescriptions in the first quarter were ₩247.6 billion, a 3.0% increase over the previous year. In the second quarter, it was ₩249.8 billion, up 1.9% from the same period last year. The growth rate slowed somewhat in 2Q. Rx amount of Statins in the second quarter decreased by 2.8% and 5.1%, respectively, in April and May. However, it jumped 14.9% from last year in June. Rx trend for major chronic dz by month (Unit: ₩ 100 million, Source: UBIST) The most frequently used combination drug for hypertension, 'ARB+CCB', showed a prescription increase of 9.3% in the first half of the year to ₩398.7 billion. The growth rate of 'ARB+CCB' was 10.0% in the first quarter, higher than 8.7% in the second quarter. The prescription amount of the “ARB+CCB” was increased only 3.2% and 1.4%, respectively, in April and May, but rose by 22.6% in June. In the industry, the RX drug market in April and May was temporarily sluggish due to the fear of COVID-19 in the first quarter, and from June, it seems that outdoor activity has been revitalized and the growth rate has been restored. The Rx drug market seems to have recovered since the spread of COVID-19 patients began to stabilize in April, and the trend has changed after the end of social distance campaign, One of the drugs with the highest growth rate in recent years, the lipid-regulating drug combination increased by 24.0% in the first quarter, compared to the same period last year, but declined to 15.1% and 15.2%, respectively, in April and May. However, in June, the prescription scale expanded 39.9% from the previous year. Outpatient Rx amount for the first half of major chronic disease treatments (Unit: KRW 100 million, Source: UBIST) The Rx amount of ARB in the first half was ₩198.4 billion, up 3.6% from the same period last year. However, it decreased by 1.6% and 4.9% in April and May, respectively, and increased by 14.8% in June again. DPP-4 and Metformin increased by 0.8% in April compared to last year and by 1.4% in May. The growth rate was 18.3% in June. The Rx amount of antibiotics continued to decrease. The prescription performance in the first half of the year was ₩110.4 billion in the first half, down 16.6% from the previous year. It decreased by 1.5% from the first half of last year, but the decline was even greater in one year. Rx amount for oral Cephalosporins fell 1.3% in the first quarter of last year, while prescription declines in the second quarter reached 31.1%. oral , the increase of Cephalosporin preparations was 8.0% and 9.3%, respectively in January and February. It decreased by 20.6% from March of the previous year and decreased by 41.2% and 37.1% in April and May, respectively. The oral prescription of Cephalosporins in June was down 10.5% from last year. Rx amount for Oral Penicillins also increased by 7.0% and 2.9% in January and February, respectively, compared to the previous year, but decreased by 42.9% in March from April (-60.8%), May (-52.8%), and June (- 24.5%) all showed a significant decline. Outpatient prescription amount (Unit: ₩100 million, Source: UBIST) Unfortunately, since February, when COVID-19 began to spread in earnest, the Rx amount of antibiotics began to decrease suddenly. It is analyzed that the decrease in antibiotic prescription is closely related to the decrease in the number of patients. This is because after the spread of COVID-19, outdoor activities were limited and personal hygiene management, such as washing hands and wearing a mask, strengthened, and the incidence of infectious diseases such as cold decreased. According to statistics recently released by UBCare, prescriptions for acute nasopharyngitis in April were 71% less than in the same period last year. In April, the amount of prescriptions from Pediatrics decreased by 52% from the previous year, and the number of prescriptions dropped by 76%. The size of prescription for expectorant which is frequently used in pediatric patients, has also decreased significantly. The amount of prescription for expectorant in the first half was ₩71.7 billion, down 22.2% from the same period last year. The amount of prescription was also 12.3% and 16.0% higher than the previous year in January and February, but in March (-26.2%), April (-52.2%), May (-49.9%), and June (- 24.7%) fell sharply.
