Korean new drug cash cows bring in KRW 100 bil in 3 quarters

Cumulative rank of outpatient drug prescriptions in Q3... Lipitor maintains overall lead

Rosuzet's prescriptions amounted to KRW 130.9 billion as of September...Chasing Lipitor's quarterly prescription sales by KRW 2.7 billion

K-CAB’s sales exceed KRW 100 billion for 3 consecutive years...Gliatamine also exceeds KRW 100 billion in 3 quarters

Domestically developed drugs are continuing to show strong performance in high ranks in Korea’s outpatient prescriptions market.

 

Prescriptions of Hanmi Pharm’s combination new drug Rosuzet and HK Inno.N's K-CAB have exceeded KRW 100 billion in just 3 quarters.

 

Daewoong Bio's brain function enhancer Gliatamin also performed well.

 

According to the market research institution UBIST on the 19th, Viatris’s hyperlipidemia treatment, Lipitor, recorded the highest cumulative outpatient prescription amount of KRW 146.8 billion in Q3 this year.

 

Although it decreased by 2.6% compared to the same period last year, it maintained its leading position.

 

Lipitor, which was introduced to the domestic market in 1999, has been in the market for over 20 years.

 

Despite the fierce competition with the entry of around 100 generics after patent expiry, the original Lipitor has been boasting its strong influence over the prescription drug market.

 

Although it continued to exert a strong influence in the prescription drug market despite the entry of its generics after patent expiry, the growth seems to have slowed down recently.

 

Lipitor had posted the most outpatient prescription sales for 5 consecutive years from 2018 to last year.

 

Rosuzet and K-Cap, which were each developed by the domestic companies Hanmi Pharmaceutical and HK InnoN, continued on their high march at the forefront of the market, raising more than KRW 100 billion in just 3 quarters.

 

Rosuzet ranked second overall, recording KRW 130.9 billion in cumulative prescriptions as of last September, a 19.5% increase from the previous year.

 

Rosuzet, which was launched at the end of 2015, is a combination drug for hyperlipidemia consisting of 2 ingredients, rosuvastatin and ezetimibe.

 

Rosuzet is experiencing rapid growth thanks to its market preoccupation strategy and the growing popularity of statin and ezetimibe combination drugs.

 

The preference for the statin/ezetimibe combination drug has been increasing because the combination is excellent for lowering low-density low-protein cholesterol (LDL-C) and cost costs less than taking the two drugs separately.

 

K-CAB's cumulative prescription performance in Q3 was KRW 114.1 billion, up 18.7% from the previous year.

 

K-CAB’s prescription amount in Q3 was KRW 40 billion, up 20.6% YoY.

 

The drug has been recording unceasing growth, rising 88.1% over the past 3 years from KRW 21.3 billion in Q3 2020.

 

K-CAB is continuing to grow rapidly due to its advantages of showing an effect faster than existing proton pump inhibitor (PPI) products and the fact that it can be taken regardless of meal intake.

 

K-CAB’s prescription volume exceeded KRW 100 billion in only the third year since its launch in 2021 and exceeded 100 billion won for 2 consecutive years until last year.

 

This year, it already saved its spot in the ‘KRW 100 billion prescription club’.

 

In addition to being approved for the treatment of erosive and non-erosive gastroesophageal reflux disease, and gastric ulcer, K-CAB acquired 5 additional indications, including as an antibiotic combination therapy for the eradication of Helicobacter pylori in patients with peptic ulcer and/or chronic atrophic gastritis, and as maintenance therapy after treatment of GERD.

 

Initially, the drug was granted reimbursement for the GERD and gastric ulcer indication and was additionally granted reimbursement for the other indications.

 

Therefore, its growth rate is expected to continue only increase further.

 

Among domestically developed new drugs, Daewoong Bio’s brain function enhancer Gliatamin’s prescriptions rose 23.5% YoY to record KRW 115 billion to rank third place.

 

Gliatamin’s influence in the prescription market increased despite the difficulties faced due to narrowed reimbursement standards, controversy over its efficacy, and the order to start negotiations on refunded reimbursement claims amount.

 

Chong Kun Dang Gliatirin, which contains choline alfoscerate, also continued its high march, recording a 12.2% YoY rise in prescription amount.

 

Organon Korea's hyperlipidemia combination drug Atozet also made the top ranks with cumulative prescriptions in Q3 of KRW 74.9 billion, up 11.9% YoY.

 

Atozet is a combination drug that combines atorvastatin and ezetimibe.

 

Starting in 2021, more than 100 domestic companies entered the atorvastatin and ezetimibe markets with their generics, Atozet continued to show a solid rise in sales.

 

The drug is being sold by Chong Kun Dang in Korea.