Cough Syrup and Synatura Syrup complete PVA negotiations

HIRA updates drugs that completed PVA negotiations until July 31st

Drugs whose use increased due to COVID-19 last year are also subject to negotiations

Respiratory drugs such as Cough Syrup and Synatrua Syrup were found to have been added as subjects for drug pricing negotiations under the Price-Volume Agreement (PVA) this year.

 

The use of the items had increased significantly last year due to the sharp increase in confirmed COVID-19 cases last year.

 

According to industry sources on the 7th, the National Health Insurance Service added 134 items and updated the list of drugs that completed drug pricing negotiations as ‘Type C PVA drugs’ recently.

 

Previously, the number of items subject to PVA Type C negotiations this time was known to be 138, and a similar number of items had been added to the list as those that completed negotiations as of July 31st.

 

Among the added items, antitussive expectorants, antibiotics, and antivirals stand out as the use of the drugs was presumed to have increased due to the increase in confirmed COVID-19 cases last year.

 

Specifically, the drugs include Yuhan Corp’s ‘Cough Syrup,’ Daewon Pharmaceutical’s ‘Codaewon Forte Syrup,’ Ahngook Pharm’s ‘Synatrua Syrup,’ Hanmi Pharm’s ‘Cossac-L Tab,’ Hanwha Pharma’s ‘Muteran Cap.

 

200mg,’ Korea United Pharm’s ‘Kalomin Tab And Kalomin S Tab.’ According to UBIST, outpatient prescriptions of the Cough Syrup had increased 111% YoY to record ‘KRW 26.7 billion’ last year.

 

Prescriptions of Codaewon Forte Syrup had also increased 88% YoY to reach KRW 21.6 billion, and Synatrua Syrup by 96% to record KRW 35 billion.

 

Prescriptions of Cossac-L Tab increased by 121% to reach KRW 5.6 billion.

 

Prescriptions of major items increased by around 100%, and the dominant analysis in the industry is that this is because prescriptions for respiratory drugs, such as antitussive expectorants and antibiotics increased significantly with the rise of confirmed COVID-19 patients last year.

 

Drugs are subject to drug pricing negotiations as Type C of the PVA if its claims amount of a drug increases by over 60%, or by 10% but the increased amount exceeds KRW 5 billion.

 

Therefore, drugs whose claims have increased by around 100% due to the influence of COVID-19 were highly likely to be included in the PVA negotiations and subject to price cuts.

 

Regarding the issue, the pharmacuetical industry insisted that drugs whose use increased due to COVID-19 should be excluded from PVA negotiations, and the health authorities partially accepted this claim and decided to adjust the use amount of drugs related to COVID-19.

 

For example, the government prepared a correction formula that excludes the 10 months last year when the number of COVID-19 patients surged and converts the claims amount of the 2 remaining months into 12 months to compare with the claims amount of the previous year.

 

As a result, the use amount of 36 items of the same product group was corrected and completed negotiations with the NHIS.

 

In addition to respiratory drugs, blockbuster drugs used to treat chronic conditions such as Boryung’s ‘Dukarb Tab,’ Hanmi Pharm’s ‘Rosuzet Tab,’ Chong Kun Dang’s ‘Telminuvo Tab,’ and AstraZeneca’s ‘Xigduo XR Tab’ were also found to have completed negotiations this time.