Companies copromote products at Hypertension Seoul 2024

Promotes products at joint booths at the Korean Society of Hypertension’s annual meeting

Korean Society of Hypertension’s 30th anniversary, attended by 700 doctors..."impact of the residents’ strike minimal”

40 pharmaceutical companies set up booths at the conference...co-promotion companies jointly promote products

Boryung-HK Inno.N; Daewoong-Daiichi Sankyo joins hands to promote products...GSK participates for the first time to promote ‘Shingrix’

Pharmaceutical and biotech companies with hypertension drugs have gathered at the Conrad Seoul Hotel in Yeouido, Seoul on the 8th.

 

Industry officials, who set up promotional booths at the Korean Society of Hypertension's fall conference (Hypertension Seoul 2024), distributed pamphlets to doctors at the event and introduced the features of their hypertension drugs.

 

The Korean Society of Hypertension held its 2024 Annual Meeting at the Conrad Hotel in Seoul from November 8 to 9.

 

The event was held on the 3rd and 5th floors of the hotel.

 

More than 40 pharmaceutical and biotech companies set up booths at the event.  According to the Korean Society of Hypertension, more than 700 healthcare professionals attended this year’s event, and a separate space was prepared to reflect on the society’s history as the society celebrated its 30th anniversary this year.

 

Despite the prolonged strike of doctors that began at the beginning of the year, the total number of participants was similar to that of previous years, said an official from the society.  “The number of participants is slightly lower than last year,” the official said, adding, ”I know that other conferences with separate sessions for residents have seen a significant decrease in the number of participants.

 

However, the KSH does not have separate sessions for residents, so there is not much difference.”  With so many healthcare professionals attending the event, pharmaceutical companies also eagerly promoted their products at the event.

 

A total of 40 companies set up booths at the event to promote their hypertension drugs.  Daewoong Pharmaceutical&Daiichi Sankyo and Boryung&HK inno.N, both Diamond level sponsers, opened the largest booths on the third and fifth floors of the venue.

 

Similarly, the platinum-level participants, Organon Korea, Hanmi Pharmaceutical, GSK, and Yuhan Corp, also set up prominent booths on the third and fifth floors.  Notedly, there were booths where two companies were promoting one product at the same time.

 

This is analyzed as a result of the increasing number of co-promotion cases in Korea’s hypertension drug market.  Currently, Daewoong Pharmaceutical and Daiichi Sankyo are co-promoting the Olmetec (olmesartan) family, Boryung and HK Inno.N are co-promoting Kanarb (fimasartan) family, Dong-A ST and Celltrion Pharmaceutical are co-promoting Edarbi (azilsartan) family, Handok and Sanofi are co-promoting Aprovasc (irbesartan+amlodipine), and Servier and Kolon Pharmaceutical are co-promoting Acertil (perindopril).  Many of these companies organized promotional booths together.

 

For example, Boryung and HK Inno.N set up a large booth at the entrance on the fifth floor of the venue.

 

The two companies had signed a copromotion agreement at the end of last year to jointly market Boryung’s Kanarb Family and HK Inno.N’s K-CAB.

 

As a result, HK inno.N has been conducting sales and marketing activities with Boryung since the beginning of this year, targeting frontline hospitals.  Setting up the promotional booth at Hypertension Seoul 2024 was also part of the companies’ copromotion strategy.

 

In particular, the companies put much effort into this event, participating as a Diamond sponsor, which is the highest level, for the first time.

 

Boryung and HK Inno.N jointly installed the booth as well. 

An official from Boryung said, “We have been jointly selling the Kanarb Family with HK Inno.N starting this year, so we jointly set up a promotional booth at Hypertension Seoul 2024.

 

We expect it to be more effective than promoting alone.

 

This way, I believe we will be able to create synergy by utilizing each company’s respective strengths.”  A representative from HK Inno.N said, “This is the first Hypertension Seoul 2024 event that we have participated in since starting copromoting Kanarb.

 

We actively communicated with Boryung before the conference to come up with a strategy.

 

Together with Boryung, we have been introducing domestic clinical cases of fimasartan to physicians visiting our booth.”  Daewoong Pharmaceuticals and Daiichi Sankyo also jointly promoted the Olmetec family on the third floor.

 

They focused on the fact that Olmetec Family, which celebrated its 20th anniversary this year, is widely used in hypertensive patients with multiple comorbidities.

 

The companies emphasized the effectiveness of Olmetec in controlling blood pressure in elderly hypertension patients, hypertension patients with diabetes, hypertension patients with obesity, and hypertension patients with cardiovascular disease.  A company representative said, “We are conducting various campaigns in celebration of the 20th anniversary of the product this year.

 

Many doctors came to the booth to congratulate and encourage us.

 

We plan to build Olmetec’s next 50 years with these supporters.”  Dong-A ST promoted Edarbi, which it is co-marketing with Celltrion Pharmaceutical, at the entrance of the third floor.

 

The company emphasized that the azilsartan ingredient of its drug reduced the mean 24-hour systolic blood pressure change more significantly than valsartan.  The booths of solo exhibitors also stood out.

 

Hanmi Pharmaceutical promoted Rosuzet and the Amosarrtan family, emphasizing that they are “the No.1 products.

 

On the second day of the event, the company promoted its products during the Luncheon Symposium.  GSK attended the Hypertension Seoul 2024 for the first time this year.

 

But interestingly enough, GSK does not own a separate hypertension product.

 

This is in contrast to other companies that have visited the congress with relevant products, such as antihypertensive monotherapy drugs, antihypertensive-hyperlipidemic combination therapy drugs, or a medical device for blood pressure measurement.

 

Nevertheless, GSK didn't just show up, it became a platinum sponsor, the second highest level of sponsorship, and was given a large booth.

 

Instead, GSK promoted its shingles vaccine, Shingrix.

 

GSK emphasized that patients with cardiovascular disease, who are at higher risk for shingles, should be vaccinated with the American College of Cardiology’s recommended dose of Shingrix.  “Studies have shown that people with high blood pressure have twice the risk of shingles than people without other medical conditions,” said a GSK representative.

 

The two conditions have a mutually reinforcing effect, with shingles significantly increasing the risk of cardiovascular disease.

 

We came to the Hypertension Seoul 2024 for the first time this year to actively relay these points to doctors who often see patients with hypertension.”  The representative added, “We know that many of the doctors who attend Hypertension Seoul 2024 are practicing physicians, and we hope that through today's event, more doctors will be able to recognize the importance of vaccinating patients with hypertension and cardiovascular disease with Shingrix.”