Lipitor and Plavix face 51% price cuts next year

Hanmi, Chong Kun Dang and Daewoong Bio each have around 200 products subject to reassessment

Numerous blockbuster products with annual sales exceeding KRW 100 billion also included

Gliatamin likely to avoid price cut next year due to already-low price

A large number of major products, including Lipitor and Plavix, have been included in the first round of reassessment of previously listed drugs. Beginning with a reduction to 51% next April, reimbursement price ceilings will be lowered in stages, leaving even long-established blockbuster drugs exposed to price cuts.

According to the first-round reassessment list released by the Health Insurance Review & Assessment Service (HIRA) on Sept. 8, a total of 12,437 products are currently included without exception.

Hanmi Pharmaceutical and Chong Kun Dang each have more than 200 products classified for the first round of reassessment. Around 40 companies have at least 100 products on the list, including Daewoong Bio, Hutecs Korea, Hana Pharm, Reyon Pharmaceutical, Shin Poong Pharmaceutical, Myung In Pharm, Dongkook Pharmaceutical, Hanlim Pharm and Yuhan Corporation.

More important than the number of products, however, is their sales volume. Price cuts imposed on one or two blockbusters with annual prescription sales exceeding KRW 100 billion could have a far greater impact on a company's actual revenue than dozens of low-sales products.

Products in the first round of reassessment will initially be subject to a 51% price ceiling next year, followed by phased reductions to 45% by 2030. AI-generated image

Notable products included in the first round are Viatris' hyperlipidemia treatment Lipitor, Handok's antiplatelet drug Plavix, Daewoong Bio's cognitive function enhancer Gliatamin and Chong Kun Dang's cognitive function enhancer Gliatilin.

According to pharmaceutical market research firm UBIST, all of these products have consistently generated annual sales exceeding KRW 100 billion.

Viatris has only 36 products subject to the first reassessment after those marked as exempt are excluded, but all four strengths of its high-grossing Lipitor—10 mg, 20 mg, 40 mg and 80 mg—are included on the list. Lipitor is a major product with annual sales exceeding KRW 170 billion.

Because the adjustment will be based on the highest price among identical formulations on the September reimbursement list, Lipitor, whose price has already been lowered, is expected to see only a modest reduction next April. The amount reduction will become greater from 2028, however. For Lipitor 10 mg, the current price of KRW 638 will fall to KRW 631 next year and KRW 607 in 2028.

The outlook was mixed for Hanmi Pharmaceutical's major products. Amozaltan was included in the first round of reassessment, while Rosuzet, which generates more than KRW 220 billion in annual sales, was assigned to the second round.

The government will use the September 2026 highest price for identical formulations, currently set at 53.55% of the reference price, as the basis for adjustments. For ordinary companies, the reimbursement ceiling will then be lowered in stages to 51% in 2027, 49% in 2028, 47% in 2029 and 45% in 2030. However, if a product's current ceiling price is already below the adjusted price for a given year, no additional reduction will be made that year.

As a result, some blockbuster products may avoid a price cut next year because their prices are already low. Daewoong Bio's Gliatamin is included in the first round of reassessment, but its price has already fallen to around the 49% level, meaning its next reduction will likely begin in 2029.

An industry official said, “It is difficult to simply compare the impact on individual companies based on the number of products alone. The reassessed prices of each company's key products need to be compared individually to gauge the actual impact.”