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- Company
- Who will distribute Lamisil?
- by Jung, Hye-Jin Feb 13, 2020 06:28am
- GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Health's 'Lamisil' distribution network is distant. All rights reserved by Dong-wha have been transferred to Ildong. Only Lamisil has been missing and haven't found a supplier for over a month. Wholesalers and medical institutions are holding back their existing inventory and are very nervous about their short expiration dates. Lamisil has not been available since January, according to retailers and pharmacies. GSK products supplied by Dong-wha until last year are 10 items including Lamisil, Otrivin, Voltaren, Nicotinell, Theraflu, Sensodyne, Brethe Right, Zantac, Polident, and Diclor. Ildong signed a co-promotion agreement on only nine items except Lamisil. As the rights were transferred from Dong-wha to Ildong, only Lamisil has been lost. The distribution industry believes that Ildong Pharm has already given up the products because of its similar efficacy. Ildong signed a co-promotion agreement with Bayer in 2013 to supply Canesten creams, vaginal tablets and powders. Canesten cream is an antifungal agent for infectious diseases, and is widely prescribed for vaginitis and athlete's foot. The two products have different ingredients, but they are both cream-type athlete's foot treatments and both are classified as 'parasitic skin disease agents'. From the standpoint of Ildong, it is likely that a pharmaceutical company would be difficult to sell two similar items, and the decision could be a violation of the contract for two companies that signed a co-promotion agreement. The problem is that the company that distributes Lamisil has not been confirmed until mid-February. Wholesaler Zuellig Pharma Korea has been negotiating with GSK since last year for a sales contract, but it is reported that it has not reached an agreement on margin. wholesalers and pharmacies suffer from Lamisil’s short stocks. Most wholesalers and pharmacies have stocks of Dong-wha, but they are in danger because they have short expiration dates. An pharmacy official said, "Because imported goods take 5~6 months from customs clearance, even if they are produced at the same time, the expiration date is 6 months shorter than domestic products and there aren't a lot of Lamisil stocks available for sale". In response, GSK explained that Lamisil will soon be resupply. GSK officials said, "The internal process related to the contract is in progress, and it is possible to resume supply as soon as the related contract is concluded. We are making every effort to minimize the impact on the market demand".
- Policy
- COVID-19 primary antivirals Kaletra·Chloroquine recommended
- by Lee, Jeong-Hwan Feb 13, 2020 06:28am
- The central clinical TF will recommend antiretroviral agents Kaletra, antimalarial agents Chloroquine, and Hydroxychloroquine as the primary antiviral drugs for COVID-19. Ribavirin and Interferon, which are mentioned as COVID-19 drugs, have relatively high side effects and are not recommended as primary antiviral drugs. In particular, some patients confirmed that they could be cured by autoimmunity without antiviral medications. The old and severe patients were advised to consider antiviral medications. On the 11th, the Central Clinical TF held its fifth videoconference and said, "COVID-19 antiviral treatment agreement is being drafted and a TF agreement will be reached within a few days". The central clinical TF consists of medical staff and specialists from the national COVID-19 confirmed patient care hospital, centered on the National Medical Center. A total of 10 medical institutions and 20 experts participated in the 5th meeting to find out the diagnosis of patients in each institution, review discharge criteria, antiviral use criteria, systematic collection and research cooperation of clinical information, prevent unnecessary social confusion, and topics include formal briefing regularization issues to provide prompt and accurate information. A prominent part is the recommendation for antiviral administration. The central clinical TF is in consensus on COVID-19 antiviral treatment. Drugs to be considered for primary administration include AIDS treatment Kaletra and malaria treatment Chloroquine and Hydroxychloroquine. Ribavirin and Interferon are also mentioned as treatments, but the side effects are relatively high and TF is not recommended as primary drugs. Regarding the discharge criteria associated with the fourth discharge patient (No. 11), the TF said that the standards for release of quarantine were applied in MERS. If the viral gene is not detected twice in a row after 48 hours after clinical improvement of symptoms, it can be released. In fact, 11th confirmed patient who was discharged for the fourth time on the 10th was diagnosed with symptoms of the 6th patient's family. The symptoms improved from the 3rd and discharged after being negatively assessed by viral genetic tests on the 5th and the 7th. The TF said that it will enable the first-time clinicians to treat infectious diseases abroad for the future operation to quickly identify the characteristics of the disease and to create the basis for treating and responding to infectious diseases. Since the 3rd, they have been sharing and discussing patients' treatment experiences through three video conferences every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. It was diagnosed that COVID-19 air transmission could not be determined about the number of patients and the possibility of air infection on the Japanese cruise ship, which is a national concern. Air propagation (droplet infection) is rare, because the density of pathogens is so important that the disease cannot be transmitted to distant people. The emergence of a large number of patients from Japanese cruise ships is a situation where many people are crowded in a confined space, where direct and indirect contact and splash propagation can occur frequently. TF said that there are four infectious diseases that have been clearly identified as airborne, including measles, tuberculosis, smallpox, and chickenpox. "We are working with the KCDC and the MOHW on a variety of topics, including clarifying the role and status of the TF as soon as possible, evaluating patients for possible discharge, developing clinical guidelines, cooperating with the WHO, and making efficient use of medical resources, and in order to accumulate the ability to cope with emerging infectious diseases, and a permanent committee needs to be operated in a developmental form".
- Policy
- Antidepressant Pristiq’s first generic seeks approval
- by Lee, Tak-Sun Feb 13, 2020 06:27am
- Pfizer Apparently, generic makers are knocking on the door of depression medication Pristiq ER tablet. This is the first time the original’s saline base-modified drug is applying for an approval. On Feb. 10, Korea’s Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) notified the Pristriq’s patent holder Pfizer that a drug with desvenlafaxine, the original’s active pharmaceutical ingredient (API), on modified saline base has applied for clearance on Feb. 6. The original Pristiq ER tablet used succinate as a base, but the investigational drug has based the API on benzoic acid. The generic’s approval application has been predicted long before, as Pristiq’s post-marketing surveillance (PMS) period of six years has expired on Feb. 5. Although a company launching a new drug in Korea is imposed with a duty to conduct PMS for a set period of time, the original is protected from generic makers with the same API applying for approval during the period. As a result, generic makers have waited for the original’s PMS period to expire on Feb. 5 and applied for approval straight away. However, the antidepressant generics are unable to launch immediately despite MFDS’ green light, as the original has patented the saline base, expected to expire on Oct. 7, 2022. For immediate release, the generic makers would have to challenge the patent, and the approval processing should undergo under the premise of launching the product regardless of the patent. The conditions are stipulated by the Drug Approval-Patent Linkage System. However, the group of applicants seeking for clearance on their generics seems likely to release the product right away. In last July, five companies have requested for negative confirmation of patent scope and successfully evaded patent infringement. Whan In Pharm, Myung In Pharm, Hanlim Pharm, Nexpharm Korea, and Samjin Pharm are the companies. As Pfizer is not filing an appeal against the case, their patent infringement is close to a done deal. If all the five companies have applied for desvenlafaxine generics on Feb. 6, they could win preferential sales rights on those items, because they have fulfilled three conditions—first to request trial, successfully challenged patent, and first to apply for approval. Pfizer’s Pristiq ER tablet has been evaluated as a next generation depression medication as it has lower risk of drug interaction and less frequent adverse reaction reported like body weight change or sexual dysfunction. According to UBIST last year, the original drug has generated 3.1 billion won from outpatient prescription. Although the drug has sold lesser than other 10-billion-won-club Lundbeck’s Lexapro and Lilly’s Cymbalta, the drug has promising prospective as the antidepressant market in Korea has skyrocketed recently and surpassed 150 billion won. Assessing the changes in the market, central nervous system (CNS) drug-specializing pharmaceutical companies have been eyeing on Pristiq’s follow-on drugs. Pristiq ER tablet is administered once-daily to adult with depression. The generics with modified saline base have applied for indication with same effect and administration method.
- Opinion
- [FOUCS] Fundamental issues with listed drug reevaluation
- by Kim, Jung-Ju Feb 13, 2020 06:27am
- The government is currently fine-tuning the detailed draft of Pharmaceutical Reevaluation Standard and Method. Although the initial drafting schedule disclosed at last year’s meeting with pharmaceutical industry and public hearing has been delayed, the government’s commitment on the task is still strong regardless of the urgent issues like the infectious disease outbreak. Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) and Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service (HIRA) have briefed the draft of reevaluation guideline at the Drug Reimbursement Evacuation Committee’s (DREC) February meeting and mentioned of some changes and selecting subjects for pilot program. Apparently, the previous framework of already-listed drug reevaluation would be applied and the initially planned foundation would be kept, but JADAD scoring and other issue the pharmaceutical industry has strongly opposed would be dealt more flexibly. The pilot program would highly likely to begin with choline alfoscerate, as expected. The pharmaceutical companies have been skeptical of the pharmaceutical reevaluation system. They claim the current post-reimbursement management systems like price-volume agreement system and preliminary drug price reduction system would inevitably overlap with the reevaluation. And also they argue the government would face difficulties in surveying actual transaction price when referencing external drug pricing. Also there are polarizing views on gap between definition of Ministry of Food and Drug Safety’s (MFDS) ‘efficacy’ and MOHW’s ‘effect’ in the evaluation. For drugs like rare disease treatment with difficulties in conducting randomized clinical trial (RCT), the companies question if the regulators would be able to properly evaluate the drugs with universal validity and predictability. The industry is already concerned of reevaluating the drugs again with government-confirmed clinical efficacy and cost-effectiveness under unified standards. Expecting there is an ultimate goal of pricing reduction, the industry views the government would take different forms of reevaluation depending on various situation fitting to their goal. Choline alfoscerate, the government has set its mind on for the pilot program, is a good example. Because of its unique quality, it is difficult to conduct a RCT so applying unified standard has its limits. What it comes down to is which methodology the regulators would take. Regardless of MFDS maintaining the approval, adjusted reimbursement standard could restrict reimbursement on certain indications, and in worst case scenario the drug could be removed from the listing. Such nature of the drug well-illustrates how complicated the issue is. The industry claims it is an over-regulation that choline alfoscerate, five years since its release, now has to prove ‘effectiveness’ to MOHW and HIRA, even after it has recently revalidated its efficacy due to license renewal regulated by MFDS. For the authority it may seem like one whole regulation, the evaluated subject feels the burden of undergoing evaluation by each ministry. With the access to drug fast improving, the global trend of health regulators leaning heavily on post-management is clearly unavoidable. However, the authority should not neglect the concerns raised by the pharmaceutical industry, in other words the evaluated subjects. Like any other regulation, meticulously perfect regulation is extremely hard to come by to begin with. But a regulation with such significant influence on the survival of business and industry’s ecosystem should construct principles fastidious but lenient enough to tolerate exception. This would be the reason why the industry is paying close attention on the regulation still in development.
- Policy
- Optimal substance derived by AI, entering clinical trials
- by Lee, Tak-Sun Feb 12, 2020 06:31am
- New drug candidates using the artificial intelligence (AI) drug development platform entered clinical trials for the first time in Korea. The company plans to develop the material as a new global drug. The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety approved the Phase I trial of PHI-101, a candidate for the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) for Pharos IBT. According to the company, PHI-101 is a substance that overcomes the resistance of Quizartinib by Daiichi Sankyo and Gilteritinib by Astellas, which are targeted drugs for acute myeloid leukemia. In particular, the substance is evaluated to have a direct inhibitory mechanism not only for the FLT3-ITD mutation but also for the FLT3-TKD (D835, F691) resistant mutation. Clinical trials are underway in Korea last December with clinical approval from the Therapeutic Goods Administration Australian (TGA). PHI-101 was developed jointly by the DGMIF's New Drug Development Center and the Korea Institute of Science and Technology. The new drug development venture, Pharos IBT, is seeking to commercialize technology. In particular, the chemical discovery platform 'Cemiverse' owned by Pharos IBT is used in the material exploration process. It is known that there are few cases where substances derived from new drug development platforms enter the clinical trials in Korea. Pharos IBT explained that it is the first in the world when a bioventure company is approved for a phase I clinical trial based on its artificial intelligence drug development platform. Cemiverse, an artificial intelligence platform, is known to derive the optimal PHI-101 from hERG ion channel prediction model that causes kidney toxicity. "Most new drugs fail because of kidney toxicity issues, and PHI-101 increases commercialization success with artificial intelligence platform" said Ki yeop Nam, Pharos IBT’s director of Bio-Industrial Artificial Intelligence (CTO). Currently, the development of new drugs using artificial intelligence platform is actively underway in Korea. Hanmi Pharmaceutical recently signed a joint research agreement with 'Standigm', an AI-based new drug development company, and plans to derive optimal materials. In addition, Yuhan, JW-Pharma, and CJ Healthcare are collaborating with AI drug developer Synteka Bio. However, no new drug candidates have entered the clinical trials yet. According to the industry, the use of AI can shorten the period of new drug development by three to four years and reduce the development cost by ₩600 billion.
- Company
- Yuhan and Eisai ink co-marketing deal for PPI Pariet
- by Eo, Yun-Ho Feb 12, 2020 06:31am
- Yuhan is to join the effort to market PPI medication Pariet in Korea. According to pharmaceutical industry sources, Pariet supplier Eisai Korea and Yuhan have signed a co-marketing contract on marketing and sales in Korea for proton pump inhibitor (PPI) medication Pariet (rabeprazole sodium) 5 mg as it has been listed for reimbursement since last September. Currently, the co-marketing deal is limited to low-dose (5 mg) tablet of Pariet, and the two companies are reportedly in discussion to expand the contract to cover all doses (10 mg and 20 mg) of the Pariet brand. With Yuhan’s powerful sales capacity, Pariet could further consolidate its position in the PPI market in Korea. UBIST reported, Pariet has generated 10.4 billion won and 12.5 billion won in 2017 and 2018, respectively, and recorded up to 20 percent of growth so far. The newly launched Pariet 5 mg is the lowest dose of PPI or rabeprazole medication available in Korea. Pariet 5 mg, the only rabeprazole medication indicated for low-dose aspirin in Korea, differentiates itself from high-dose PPI mediation as lowest-dose PPI medication, and it was released in Korea following the first global release in Japan. Randomized, double-blind, multicenter PLANETARIUM study confirmed the efficacy and safety of Pariet 5 mg. Over 24 weeks, 472 patients receiving low-dose aspirin for cardiovascular or cerebrovascular protection, but also has a history of peptic ulcers, were divided into three groups each treating them with Pariet 5 mg, Pariet 10 mg, and mucosal protective agent teprenone 50 mg. As a result, Pariet 5 mg, Pariet 10 mg, and teprenone 50 mg patient groups showed cumulative recurrence rates of 2.8 percent, 1.4 percent, and 21.7 percent, respectively, and confirmed meaningful treatment effect in Pariet patient groups. In the extension phase of PLANETARIUM, teprenone-treated patient group was randomly switched to rabeprazole for 28 weeks to maximum 52 weeks. The group administered with 5 mg of Pariet demonstrated cumulative recurrence rate of peptic ulcers of 3.7 percent, showing continuous peptic ulcer preventive effect. No bleeding ulcers were reported during the trial period.
- Policy
- “Outbreak spreading locally, need to deny Chinese traveler"
- by Lee, Jeong-Hwan Feb 12, 2020 06:31am
- Professor Choi Jae Wook of Korea University College of MedicineProfessor Choi Jae Wook at Korea University Department of Preventive Medicine raised his voice and said, “How could government affirm that the novel coronavirus has not started transmitting throughout Korea? This is the government mocking the people and medical experts. We should not ignore the possibility of the current number of confirmed case of 27 exponentially increasing up to thousands and more. The government would need to promptly take proactive steps and strengthen the infectious disease control.” Medical experts have pointed out the infectious disease control alert level should be raised from 'warning' to 'severe,' and restriction on Korea-bound travelers from China should be expanded wider from 'Wuhan-outbound only' to properly prevent the novel coronavirus spreading locally in Korea. The strong arguments were made as the outbreak did not stop transmitting since the first confirmed patient was reported since Jan. 20, and total 27 patients have been confirmed to have been infected as of Feb. 10 through secondary and tertiary infection. On Feb. 10, the Liberty Korea Party's Novel Coronavirus Counterplan TF convened 'Emergency Expert-level Roundtable on Preventing Novel Coronavirus Infection and Transmission.’ Professor Jun Byung Yool at CHA University College of Medicine, a former Director of Korea Center for Disease Control and Prevention, and Professor Choi Jae Wook at Korea University Department of Preventive Medicine respectively gave presentation. Both Professor Jun and Professor Choi agreed the state-led infectious disease control level should be enhanced higher to prevent the worst case of the novel coronavirus spreading nationwide. Professor Jun claimed the novel coronavirus' human transmissibility is higher than previous case of SARS or MERS, but the fatality rate is at around 4 percent to 5 percent, relatively lower than that of SARS (10 percent) or MERS (30 percent). With lower fatality rate and higher transmissibility of the disease, the professor urged interregional transmission of the infectious disease should be stopped by tightening the state-led disease control at this point in time, when the travelers contracted the virus from China and other countries have not infected anyone came in contact. Professor Jun clarified actions like shutting out Chinese and other high-risk group entering the country, should be taken. Professor Choi diagnosed interregional spread of the novel coronavirus, originated from Wuhan, China, has begun in Korea. The professor reprehended the government, who is supposed to put all efforts to prevent the outbreak, is making a hasty judgment to say the interregional transmission has not started. Specifically, Professor Choi pointed out the government has failed and reached the worst case scenario of infecting other regions by failing to prevent the disease outbreak in Korea, followed by politically interfering quarantine system. The professor also said the current administration is repeating the same issue of national infectious disease control, which was apparent during the MERS outbreak five years ago. As a solution to the issue, Professor Choi proposed readjusting the infectious disease control approach from retrospective to proactive countermeasure, and forming Public-private Joint Emergency Response TF for the government and private healthcare institutes to cooperate. He said, “If the experts do not talk about the current state of government response, then it would repeat the misstep and the infected cases would surge from 27 to thousands and more in a matter of time. The interregional transmission has already begun. At the moment, only the people who came in contact with the confirmed patients are regarded as subject for testing. We need to switch from such retrospective response to proactive response.” “First, the infectious disease alert level should be pushed up to ‘severe,’ and all travelers from China should be temporarily denied. There is no other way to filter out infected patients with dormant symptoms. The regional community should test potential cases early and continue to monitor them,” the professor argued. He elaborated, “Proactive countermeasure cannot be taken only with government-run health centers and hospitals. Regional clinics’ cooperation and participation are essential. The number of infected patients in China started from 40 and now it surpassed 30,000. Infectious disease control should not ignore the people’s rights to health and let political bias get in the way.” Director Lee Sungsoon of Ilsan Paik HospitalDirector Lee Sungsoon of Inje University Ilsan Paik Hospital also claimed, the administration is repeating the same mistake occurred five years ago with MERS. More special clinics have been opened, but the government has not yet supplied anti-contamination suit or mask, making proper medical practice impossible. Moreover, the government has not offered any compensation for healthcare institute participating in the disease control. Director Lee pin pointed, “Quarantine and transmission prevention are the keys to overcoming infectious disease outbreak. Healthcare institutes are in charge of testing and treating patients, whereas quarantine and prevention are the duties of the government. However the administration is repeating the same problem caused during the MERS incident. Many of special clinic are working without even a mask.” “The loose unpreparedness is happening again after five years. Only a handful of State-designated Quarantine Hospitals around the country can properly operate a special clinic. The government advises private clinics to operate individual special clinic or safe clinic, but it would rather only increase the risk,” Director urged. He added, “Small local clinic doctors should be able to test patients when encountering suspicious patient. The medical professionals’ concern is their clinics closing when visited by an infected patient. The government has mentioned of appropriate compensation. But only sufficient compensation, and not ‘appropriate compensation,’ would encourage clinics to test and treat patients and prevent further local transmission.”
- Company
- Baxter-Boryung shake hands on comarketing PN in Korea
- by Eo, Yun-Ho Feb 12, 2020 06:28am
- GM Hyun Dong-wook of Baxter (left) and CEO Lee Sam-soo of Boryung Pharmaceutical Boryung Pharmaceutical is to reinforce the sales capacity in Korea for Baxter’s nutrition solution pipeline. Baxter (GM Hyun Dong-wook) announced on Feb. 10 of signing a business partnership agreement with Boryung Pharmaceutical (Co-CEO Ahn Jae-hyun, Lee Sam-soo) on co-marketing the company’s Olimer and two other major nutrition solution products in Korea. Under the agreement, Boryung Pharmaceutical would be in charge of the marketing Olimel and Periolimel, Clinoleic, and Primene in Korean hospitals and clinics from January. Baxter’s star intravenous nutrition solution Olimel is parenteral nutrition in triple-chamber bag providing fluid, electrolytes, amino acids and calories to adult and infant patient age under two, who needs parenteral nutrition due to issues in gastrointestinal tract. In particular, the solution provides sufficient amount of protein to patients wasting nutrition, due to burn, blood poisoning, severe injury or cancer, for them to recover and sustain life with balanced nutrition. Clinoleic provides calories and essential fatty acid to premature or low birth-weight infant, pediatric and adult patients in need of parenteral nutrition. Primene provides parenteral nutrition to normal or low birth-weight infant, premature infant or infant and pediatric patients who cannot sufficiently consume nutrition orally or enterally. General Manager of Baxter, Hyun Dong-wook stated, “By signing the business partnership agreement with Boryung Pharmaceutical, we hope to stabilize supply of Baxter’s top nutrition solution line-ups to patients in Korea.” CEO Lee Sam-soo of Boryung Pharmaceutical said, “We expect to create good synergy effect between Baxter’s outstanding products and Boryung Pharmaceutical’s excellent sales infrastructure in Korea.”
- Company
- Lipitor won the market in the 2010s
- by An, Kyung-Jin Feb 12, 2020 06:27am
- In the past decade, Lipitor, the hyperlipidemia drug, recorded the most outpatient prescriptions. Lipitor has been prescribed a total of ₩1.31 trillion since 2010. After the patent expiration in 2009, even in the offensive of generic drugs, Lipitor showed that it never fell below the second place in prescriptions. The hepatitis B drug 'Baraclude' has been priscribed an average of more than ₩100 billion per year from 2010 to last year and has been at the leading position for the longest time. In 2010, hepatitis B treatment drug Viread and hyperlipidemia medicine Crestor had accumulated over ₩800 billion in prescriptions. Pfizer's Lipitor(Atorvastatin), ranked first in 2010-2019 with a total prescription of ₩1.31 trillion. Pfizer Korea introduced Lipitor to the domestic market in 1999. In the 20 years since its launch, more than 130 generic products have poured into the market for Atorvastatin-based hyperlipidemia. The drug price of Lipitor 10mg was cut in half from ₩1,241 in 2007 to ₩644. Nevertheless, Lipitor's outpatient prescriptions increased by nearly 80% from 2010's ₩98.3 billion. In the past decade, the overall prescription drug ranking has never fallen below second place. Pfizer Pharmaceuticals has self-diagnosed that the prescription amount could be continuously increased by conducting a large-scale clinical study of Koreans and carrying out active marketing activities such as social contribution activities. It is also analyzed that co-selling with Jeil, which has been established for a long time, has generated synergies. Outpatient prescription performance by year for the top three products in 2010-2019 (Unit: ₩100 million, Source: UBIST) BMS's Baraclude has accumulated over ₩1.23 trillion in the past 10 years. This means that the company has recorded more than ₩100 billion in prescriptions over the past 10 years. There are only two products, Lipitor and Baraclude, that have recorded prescriptions worth ₩ one trillion over 10 years. Baraclude has been the leader in prescriptions for the longest period of 2010, with outpatient prescriptions soaring from ₩ 88.8 billion in 2010 to ₩193.1 billion in 2014. However, after the emergence of competitive drugs and generic patent expiration, it fell to ₩71.4 billion in 2019 due to the entry of generics. Outpatient prescriptions decreased 63% QoQ. The rival drug Viread has been ranked 3rd in terms of cumulative prescriptions, with prescriptions worth ₩847 billion for the past 10 years. Viread, which appeared in the domestic market in 2013, led the year with a record of ₩166 billion in 2017, but fell to ₩106.8 billion last year. Since the entry into the generics market, drug prices have dropped sharply. Baraclude and Viread, along with Lipitor, dominated the prescription drug market in the 2010s, but suffered the upswing in generics after the patent expiration. During the decade of the 2010s, the top spot for prescriptions was granted to only three items: Lipitor, Baraclude, and Viread. After Lipitor took the top spot in 2010, Baraclude took the lead for five years from 2011 to 2015. In 2016, Lipitor recaptured the first place in six years, but in 2017, gave the lead. Since then, due to drug price cuts and the general offensive, Viread's prescription performance has slowed down. In 2018, Lipitor returned to the top position and remained the number one for two consecutive years until last year. AstraZeneca's hyperlipidemia treatment, Crestor recorded a total prescription amount of ₩803.3 billion over the last 10 years. Sanofi's anti-thrombotic drug Plavix has accumulated cumulative prescriptions of ₩721.9 billion since 2010. Boehringer Ingelheim's Twynstar (Telmisartan/Amlodipine) has been prescribed for ₩711.8 billion over the last 10 years. Antihypertensive drugs, Exforge & Amosartan, Norvasc, and prostatic hyperplasia treatment, Harnal have been listed in the top 10 items with the highest prescription rates in the last decade. Over the past decade, the trend in prescription drug sales has been clear. Multinational pharmaceutical companies with patent-expired drugs implemented their market defense strategy by strengthening their sales force through joint sales agreements with domestic pharmaceutical companies. Crestor's outpatient prescriptions peaked at ₩100.8 billion in 2014 from ₩66.8 billion in 2010 and then turned downward. However, the company has continued its uptrend for the second straight year, reaching ₩74.1 billion in 2018 and ₩84 billion in 2019. AstraZeneca has been co-selling Crestor with Daewoong Pharmaceutical since 2016. Last year, prescription sales for Plavix increased by 17.3% year-on-year to ₩88.9 billion. In 2013, it fell to ₩46.4 billion in 2013 from ₩95.8 billion in 2010, but recovered ₩60 billion in the following year, up 48.2% in five years. Two years after launching joint sales with Dong-wha in 2017, the prescription performance jumped 28.1%, which is considered to be an effective defense against the generic offensive. More than 100 generic products for Twynsta have been poured to the market since its patent expiration in 2013, but there has been no change in prescription performance. After peaking at ₩97.7 billion in 2016, the market faltered to ₩81.2 billion in 2017 and ₩80.3 billion in 2018, but rebounded to ₩84.7 billion last year. Twynsta is co-sold by Yuhan. (Clockwise from top left) Lipitor, Baraclude, Viread, Albis, Stillen, & Hepsera The top prescriptions in 2010 and 2019 were also changed significantly. Dong-A ST's gastritis treatment Stillen, which was ranked fourth in 2010 with a prescription amount of ₩88.3 billion, disappeared from the top of 2019. In 2011, the prescription amount of Stillen, jumped to ₩93.3 billion, but its market position has declined significantly since the emergence of generics. In 2017, the reimbursement for prevention of gastritis was deleted, and even reimbursement benefit was cut in half. Last year, outpatient prescriptions amounted to ₩9.3 billion, which was only about one tenth of 2010. Chong Kun Dang's high blood pressure treatment, Dilatrend, Pfizer's Norvasc, Daewoong's brain function improver Gliatilin, and MSD's asthma treatment, Singulair disappeared from the top of 2019. On the other hand, Daewoong Bio's brain function improver Gliatamin, Boehringer Ingelheim's Twynsta, Hanmi's Rosuzet, Eisai's brain function improver Aricept, Hanmi’s Amosartan have newly ranked at the top.Top 10 Outpatient Prescription Products in 2010 and 2019 (Unit: ₩100 million, Source: UBIST)
- Opinion
- [Reporter’s view]2019n-CoV & safety ignorance of companies
- by Kim, Jin-Gu Feb 12, 2020 06:27am
- Rumor has it that the new coronavirus confirmers 17 and 19 are employees of pharmaceutical companies. The fact is not known. However, it is speculated that they were attending a plastic surgery conference held in Singapore recently, and the KCDC confirmed that they are not doctors. More important than rumor is the possibility that pharmaceutical salespersons can become super propagators, and this is the ripple effect.. Many pharmaceutical companies have already started working at home or are encouraging salespeople to refrain from visiting hospitals. It is a measure to protect the company's sales staff and to prevent the spread of the virus. Most of these steps have been taken by global pharmaceutical companies. Among domestic firms, only Samil was found to be working from home. Most of the other domestic companies are taking measures that say, "Be careful", and they are told to wear mask and hand sanitizer when visiting hospital. Rather, some domestic executives are saying that the crisis is an opportunity. This situation would have prompted other pharmaceutical salespersons to visit their main rivals’ hospitals. It is a sophistication. It is also very dangerous gambling. If there is a confirmer among pharmaceutical salespeople, it is obvious that the issue will not end at one of those employees. In general, it is known that there are as many as 5~15 visiting places a day by one salesperson. Considering the medical staff, patients, and caregivers of the hospitals and pharmacies he visited, it is estimated that 1,000 people will be direct or indirect contacts. Some of them will become new infected people and spread the virus to their family and colleagues at home and at work. In terms of corporate profits, huge losses are inevitable. When the confirmed person comes out, the clinic closes, and the sales from this disappear. The company should also be accused of promoting virus outbreaks. Working from home or refraining from hospital visits is not the only obvious solution to the new coronavirus outbreak. However, in the situation where the whole society is trying to prevent the spread of the virus, unnecessary retrogradation should disappear. This time, it is wrong to say that crisis is an opportunity.
