Prescriptions for cephalosporin antibiotics double in 3yrs

Heyday for cephalosporin class antibiotics comes with COVID-19 endemic

Prescription market for cephalosporin antibiotics in Q1 post KRW 80.4 billion... up 89% from 3 years ago

Demand surges after the COVID-19 endemic...Cefaclor sales expanded by 66% in 3 years

Daewoong Bio shows strength in the Cefaclor market…companies are having difficulty securing supply due to high demand

The popularity of antibiotics in the outpatient prescription market continues.

 

The prescription market for cephalosporin-class antibiotics has nearly doubled in the past 3 years.

 

This ‘heyday’ in the cephalosporin prescription market is continuing, fueled by the steady increase in flu and cold cases since the end of the pandemic.

 

According to the market research institution UBIST, the outpatient prescription market for cephalosporin antibiotics was KRW 80.4 billion in Q1 last year, up 11.3% year-on-year.

 

Compared to the KRW 64.1 billion it posted in Q1 2022, the market has expanded 24.4% in 2 years.

 

Cephalosporin antibiotics, which are also called ‘Cepha antibiotics,’ are antibiotics used to manage a wide range of conditions including pneumonia, sore throat, tonsillitis, and bronchitis.

 

The prescription market for cephalosporin antibiotics has undergone significant changes during the pandemic.

 

The prescription market for cephalosporin antibiotics shrank by 29.3% from KRW 60.2 billion in Q1 2020 to KRW 42.6 billion in Q1 2021.

 

In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, the prescription market for cephalosporin antibiotics shrank significantly, with the number of patients with infectious diseases such as flu and colds plummeting due to increased personal hygiene measures such as hand washing and mask-wearing.

 

However, the demand for cephalosporin antibiotics surged with the explosive rise in the number of COVID-19 cases in late 2021.

 

In Q1 2022, the prescription value of cephalosporin antibiotics began to rebound, reaching KRW 64.1 billion, up 50.6% YoY.

 

Even after the end of the pandemic last year, the demand for cephalosporin antibiotics increased due to a steady number of confirmed daily COVID-19 cases and the rising number of flu and cold cases that arose after the lifted mask mandate.

 

In Q1, the prescription market for cephalosporin antibiotics soared 88.8% in 3 years compared to Q1 2021.

 

Cefaclor, the leading cephalosporin antibiotic, has recently grown significantly after the prescription market contracted in the early days of the COVID-19 outbreak.

 

The outpatient prescription market for Cefaclor shrank by 23.2% from KRW 31.8 billion in Q1 2020 to KRW 24.4 billion in Q1 2021.

 

However, from the end of 2021, the prescription market expanded at a rapid pace.

 

In Q1, Cefaclor’s prescription size was KRW 40.6 billion, which is a 66.4% rise in 3 years from Q1 2021.

 

Daewoong Bio was the dominant player in the Cefaclor market.

 

Prescriptions of Daewoong Bio's Ceclor in Q1 was KRW 3.4 billion, up 20.1% YoY.

 

Prescriptions of Ceclor have nearly doubled in 3 years from 1.8 billion won in Q1 2021.

 

Prescription sales of Withus Pharamceutical’s Withus Cefaclor have increased sixfold from KRW 500 million in Q1 last year to KRW 2.8 billion in a single year.

 

Other companies in the cephalosporin market, such as HLB Pharma, Mothers Pharmaceutical, Celltrion Pharm, Samsung Pharm, and Theragen Etex, generated over KRW 1 billion in prescriptions in Q1.

 

Cephalosporin antibiotics have recently emerged as a new cash cow for pharmaceutical companies due to such a significant increase in demand.

 

Many pharmaceutical companies had been considering withdrawing from the cephalosporin antibiotics business due to the declining market rising raw material costs and low drug prices.

 

However, with the recent increase in demand, pharmaceutical companies are rather facing an urgent need to secure more supply.

 

Daewoong Bios, which has been leading the market for cephalosporin antibiotics, announced last year that it would invest KRW 50 billion to build a new plant dedicated to the production of cephalosporin antibiotics.

 

The current cephalosporin antibiotics plant in Seongnam, South Korea, will cease operation after this year due to outdated facilities.

 

Once the new plant is completed, the company plans to further expand its antibiotic business.

 

Separation of factories has become mandatory for the production of cephalosporin antibiotics since 2011.

 

Since separate manufacturing facilities are required for its production, not many companies own dedicated facilities.

 

One pharmaceutical company official said, "Cephalosporin antibiotics are a representative drug supplied through active consignment agreement.

 

With the recent surge in demand, we have been struggling to secure sufficient supplies from our consignees.”