Pulmican·Pulmicort prescriptions surge in asthma Tx mkt

supported by the government’s price increase for budesonide

Prescriptions for budesonide asthma drugs in the first half of the year record KRW 6.8 billion...up 23% YoY

Drug price was raised in December last year due to supply and demand imbalance...price raised by up to 19%

Market expanded with price hike... imbalance in supply and demand becomes resolved

The prescription market for 'budesonide' asthma drugs has expanded significantly.

 

The drug price hike at the end of last year led to increased production and an expansion of the prescription market.

 

The prescription market has also shown growth due to the resolution of the supply and demand imbalance made for drugs with supply and demand imbalance.

 

According to the market research institution UBIST, outpatient prescriptions for budesonide single-agent asthma drugs totaled at KRW 6.8 billion in the first half of last year, up 23.0% year-on-year.

 

Prescriptions for budesonide single-agent drugs totaled at KRW 3.1 billion in Q1 this year, up 19.5% YoY, and then at KRW 3.7 billion in Q2, up 26.2% Yoy.

 

Quarterly outpatient prescriptions of budesonide asthma drugs (Unit: KRW 1 million, Source: Financial Supervisory Service)

Budesonide is a medication used to treat bronchial asthma and acute laryngotracheobronchitis in infants and children.

 

Two budesonide products - AstraZeneca's Pulmicort and Kuhnil Pharmaceutical's Pulmican - are currently available in Korea.

 

The market for budesonide asthma medicines has faced supply shortages due to a surge in demand last year.

 

Since the shift to the COVID-19 endemic, the demand for asthma medicines has increased due to the increase in the number of cold and flu patients, leading to a supply-demand imbalance where the supply could not keep up with the demand.

 

The prescription market for budesonide asthma drugs was worth KRW 2.8 billion in Q2 last year but fell by half to KRW 1.6 billion in Q3 as the supply shortage spread.

 

The government’s decision to raise the price of budesonide to increase production is analyzed to have expanded the prescription market.

 

The Ministry of Health and Welfare raised the insurance ceiling price of Pulmican by 18.5% from KRW 946 to KRW 1,121 since December last year.

 

Pulmicort’s price increased by 12.5% from KRW 1,000 to KRW 1,125.

 

The price hike was decided upon after discussions between the health authorities and pharmaceutical companies to encourage expanded production to address the frequent supply and demand shortages that arose with the surge in demand.

 

Sales of both Pulmicort and Pulmican increased.

 

Pulmicort's prescriptions in the first half of the year totaled at KRW 3.6 billion, up 48.0% year-on-year.

 

Pulmicort's prescriptions soared 62.3% year-on-year to KRW 1.6 billion in Q1 and then up 38.2% to KRW 1.4 billion in Q2.

 

Pulmicangenerated KRW 2.9 billion in prescriptions in the first half of last year, up 10.6% to KRW 3.2 billion in a single year.

 

Pulmian’s prescriptions grew 3.0% and 28.6% year-over-year in Q1 and Q2, respectively.