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- 2026-05-21 00:48:17
- Policy
- Optimal substance derived by AI, entering clinical trials
- by Lee, Tak-Sun Feb 12, 2020 06:31am
- New drug candidates using the artificial intelligence (AI) drug development platform entered clinical trials for the first time in Korea. The company plans to develop the material as a new global drug. The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety approved the Phase I trial of PHI-101, a candidate for the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) for Pharos IBT. According to the company, PHI-101 is a substance that overcomes the resistance of Quizartinib by Daiichi Sankyo and Gilteritinib by Astellas, which are targeted drugs for acute myeloid leukemia. In particular, the substance is evaluated to have a direct inhibitory mechanism not only for the FLT3-ITD mutation but also for the FLT3-TKD (D835, F691) resistant mutation. Clinical trials are underway in Korea last December with clinical approval from the Therapeutic Goods Administration Australian (TGA). PHI-101 was developed jointly by the DGMIF's New Drug Development Center and the Korea Institute of Science and Technology. The new drug development venture, Pharos IBT, is seeking to commercialize technology. In particular, the chemical discovery platform 'Cemiverse' owned by Pharos IBT is used in the material exploration process. It is known that there are few cases where substances derived from new drug development platforms enter the clinical trials in Korea. Pharos IBT explained that it is the first in the world when a bioventure company is approved for a phase I clinical trial based on its artificial intelligence drug development platform. Cemiverse, an artificial intelligence platform, is known to derive the optimal PHI-101 from hERG ion channel prediction model that causes kidney toxicity. "Most new drugs fail because of kidney toxicity issues, and PHI-101 increases commercialization success with artificial intelligence platform" said Ki yeop Nam, Pharos IBT’s director of Bio-Industrial Artificial Intelligence (CTO). Currently, the development of new drugs using artificial intelligence platform is actively underway in Korea. Hanmi Pharmaceutical recently signed a joint research agreement with 'Standigm', an AI-based new drug development company, and plans to derive optimal materials. In addition, Yuhan, JW-Pharma, and CJ Healthcare are collaborating with AI drug developer Synteka Bio. However, no new drug candidates have entered the clinical trials yet. According to the industry, the use of AI can shorten the period of new drug development by three to four years and reduce the development cost by ₩600 billion.
- Company
- Yuhan and Eisai ink co-marketing deal for PPI Pariet
- by Eo, Yun-Ho Feb 12, 2020 06:31am
- Yuhan is to join the effort to market PPI medication Pariet in Korea. According to pharmaceutical industry sources, Pariet supplier Eisai Korea and Yuhan have signed a co-marketing contract on marketing and sales in Korea for proton pump inhibitor (PPI) medication Pariet (rabeprazole sodium) 5 mg as it has been listed for reimbursement since last September. Currently, the co-marketing deal is limited to low-dose (5 mg) tablet of Pariet, and the two companies are reportedly in discussion to expand the contract to cover all doses (10 mg and 20 mg) of the Pariet brand. With Yuhan’s powerful sales capacity, Pariet could further consolidate its position in the PPI market in Korea. UBIST reported, Pariet has generated 10.4 billion won and 12.5 billion won in 2017 and 2018, respectively, and recorded up to 20 percent of growth so far. The newly launched Pariet 5 mg is the lowest dose of PPI or rabeprazole medication available in Korea. Pariet 5 mg, the only rabeprazole medication indicated for low-dose aspirin in Korea, differentiates itself from high-dose PPI mediation as lowest-dose PPI medication, and it was released in Korea following the first global release in Japan. Randomized, double-blind, multicenter PLANETARIUM study confirmed the efficacy and safety of Pariet 5 mg. Over 24 weeks, 472 patients receiving low-dose aspirin for cardiovascular or cerebrovascular protection, but also has a history of peptic ulcers, were divided into three groups each treating them with Pariet 5 mg, Pariet 10 mg, and mucosal protective agent teprenone 50 mg. As a result, Pariet 5 mg, Pariet 10 mg, and teprenone 50 mg patient groups showed cumulative recurrence rates of 2.8 percent, 1.4 percent, and 21.7 percent, respectively, and confirmed meaningful treatment effect in Pariet patient groups. In the extension phase of PLANETARIUM, teprenone-treated patient group was randomly switched to rabeprazole for 28 weeks to maximum 52 weeks. The group administered with 5 mg of Pariet demonstrated cumulative recurrence rate of peptic ulcers of 3.7 percent, showing continuous peptic ulcer preventive effect. No bleeding ulcers were reported during the trial period.
- Policy
- “Outbreak spreading locally, need to deny Chinese traveler"
- by Lee, Jeong-Hwan Feb 12, 2020 06:31am
- Professor Choi Jae Wook of Korea University College of MedicineProfessor Choi Jae Wook at Korea University Department of Preventive Medicine raised his voice and said, “How could government affirm that the novel coronavirus has not started transmitting throughout Korea? This is the government mocking the people and medical experts. We should not ignore the possibility of the current number of confirmed case of 27 exponentially increasing up to thousands and more. The government would need to promptly take proactive steps and strengthen the infectious disease control.” Medical experts have pointed out the infectious disease control alert level should be raised from 'warning' to 'severe,' and restriction on Korea-bound travelers from China should be expanded wider from 'Wuhan-outbound only' to properly prevent the novel coronavirus spreading locally in Korea. The strong arguments were made as the outbreak did not stop transmitting since the first confirmed patient was reported since Jan. 20, and total 27 patients have been confirmed to have been infected as of Feb. 10 through secondary and tertiary infection. On Feb. 10, the Liberty Korea Party's Novel Coronavirus Counterplan TF convened 'Emergency Expert-level Roundtable on Preventing Novel Coronavirus Infection and Transmission.’ Professor Jun Byung Yool at CHA University College of Medicine, a former Director of Korea Center for Disease Control and Prevention, and Professor Choi Jae Wook at Korea University Department of Preventive Medicine respectively gave presentation. Both Professor Jun and Professor Choi agreed the state-led infectious disease control level should be enhanced higher to prevent the worst case of the novel coronavirus spreading nationwide. Professor Jun claimed the novel coronavirus' human transmissibility is higher than previous case of SARS or MERS, but the fatality rate is at around 4 percent to 5 percent, relatively lower than that of SARS (10 percent) or MERS (30 percent). With lower fatality rate and higher transmissibility of the disease, the professor urged interregional transmission of the infectious disease should be stopped by tightening the state-led disease control at this point in time, when the travelers contracted the virus from China and other countries have not infected anyone came in contact. Professor Jun clarified actions like shutting out Chinese and other high-risk group entering the country, should be taken. Professor Choi diagnosed interregional spread of the novel coronavirus, originated from Wuhan, China, has begun in Korea. The professor reprehended the government, who is supposed to put all efforts to prevent the outbreak, is making a hasty judgment to say the interregional transmission has not started. Specifically, Professor Choi pointed out the government has failed and reached the worst case scenario of infecting other regions by failing to prevent the disease outbreak in Korea, followed by politically interfering quarantine system. The professor also said the current administration is repeating the same issue of national infectious disease control, which was apparent during the MERS outbreak five years ago. As a solution to the issue, Professor Choi proposed readjusting the infectious disease control approach from retrospective to proactive countermeasure, and forming Public-private Joint Emergency Response TF for the government and private healthcare institutes to cooperate. He said, “If the experts do not talk about the current state of government response, then it would repeat the misstep and the infected cases would surge from 27 to thousands and more in a matter of time. The interregional transmission has already begun. At the moment, only the people who came in contact with the confirmed patients are regarded as subject for testing. We need to switch from such retrospective response to proactive response.” “First, the infectious disease alert level should be pushed up to ‘severe,’ and all travelers from China should be temporarily denied. There is no other way to filter out infected patients with dormant symptoms. The regional community should test potential cases early and continue to monitor them,” the professor argued. He elaborated, “Proactive countermeasure cannot be taken only with government-run health centers and hospitals. Regional clinics’ cooperation and participation are essential. The number of infected patients in China started from 40 and now it surpassed 30,000. Infectious disease control should not ignore the people’s rights to health and let political bias get in the way.” Director Lee Sungsoon of Ilsan Paik HospitalDirector Lee Sungsoon of Inje University Ilsan Paik Hospital also claimed, the administration is repeating the same mistake occurred five years ago with MERS. More special clinics have been opened, but the government has not yet supplied anti-contamination suit or mask, making proper medical practice impossible. Moreover, the government has not offered any compensation for healthcare institute participating in the disease control. Director Lee pin pointed, “Quarantine and transmission prevention are the keys to overcoming infectious disease outbreak. Healthcare institutes are in charge of testing and treating patients, whereas quarantine and prevention are the duties of the government. However the administration is repeating the same problem caused during the MERS incident. Many of special clinic are working without even a mask.” “The loose unpreparedness is happening again after five years. Only a handful of State-designated Quarantine Hospitals around the country can properly operate a special clinic. The government advises private clinics to operate individual special clinic or safe clinic, but it would rather only increase the risk,” Director urged. He added, “Small local clinic doctors should be able to test patients when encountering suspicious patient. The medical professionals’ concern is their clinics closing when visited by an infected patient. The government has mentioned of appropriate compensation. But only sufficient compensation, and not ‘appropriate compensation,’ would encourage clinics to test and treat patients and prevent further local transmission.”
- Company
- Baxter-Boryung shake hands on comarketing PN in Korea
- by Eo, Yun-Ho Feb 12, 2020 06:28am
- GM Hyun Dong-wook of Baxter (left) and CEO Lee Sam-soo of Boryung Pharmaceutical Boryung Pharmaceutical is to reinforce the sales capacity in Korea for Baxter’s nutrition solution pipeline. Baxter (GM Hyun Dong-wook) announced on Feb. 10 of signing a business partnership agreement with Boryung Pharmaceutical (Co-CEO Ahn Jae-hyun, Lee Sam-soo) on co-marketing the company’s Olimer and two other major nutrition solution products in Korea. Under the agreement, Boryung Pharmaceutical would be in charge of the marketing Olimel and Periolimel, Clinoleic, and Primene in Korean hospitals and clinics from January. Baxter’s star intravenous nutrition solution Olimel is parenteral nutrition in triple-chamber bag providing fluid, electrolytes, amino acids and calories to adult and infant patient age under two, who needs parenteral nutrition due to issues in gastrointestinal tract. In particular, the solution provides sufficient amount of protein to patients wasting nutrition, due to burn, blood poisoning, severe injury or cancer, for them to recover and sustain life with balanced nutrition. Clinoleic provides calories and essential fatty acid to premature or low birth-weight infant, pediatric and adult patients in need of parenteral nutrition. Primene provides parenteral nutrition to normal or low birth-weight infant, premature infant or infant and pediatric patients who cannot sufficiently consume nutrition orally or enterally. General Manager of Baxter, Hyun Dong-wook stated, “By signing the business partnership agreement with Boryung Pharmaceutical, we hope to stabilize supply of Baxter’s top nutrition solution line-ups to patients in Korea.” CEO Lee Sam-soo of Boryung Pharmaceutical said, “We expect to create good synergy effect between Baxter’s outstanding products and Boryung Pharmaceutical’s excellent sales infrastructure in Korea.”
- Company
- Lipitor won the market in the 2010s
- by An, Kyung-Jin Feb 12, 2020 06:27am
- In the past decade, Lipitor, the hyperlipidemia drug, recorded the most outpatient prescriptions. Lipitor has been prescribed a total of ₩1.31 trillion since 2010. After the patent expiration in 2009, even in the offensive of generic drugs, Lipitor showed that it never fell below the second place in prescriptions. The hepatitis B drug 'Baraclude' has been priscribed an average of more than ₩100 billion per year from 2010 to last year and has been at the leading position for the longest time. In 2010, hepatitis B treatment drug Viread and hyperlipidemia medicine Crestor had accumulated over ₩800 billion in prescriptions. Pfizer's Lipitor(Atorvastatin), ranked first in 2010-2019 with a total prescription of ₩1.31 trillion. Pfizer Korea introduced Lipitor to the domestic market in 1999. In the 20 years since its launch, more than 130 generic products have poured into the market for Atorvastatin-based hyperlipidemia. The drug price of Lipitor 10mg was cut in half from ₩1,241 in 2007 to ₩644. Nevertheless, Lipitor's outpatient prescriptions increased by nearly 80% from 2010's ₩98.3 billion. In the past decade, the overall prescription drug ranking has never fallen below second place. Pfizer Pharmaceuticals has self-diagnosed that the prescription amount could be continuously increased by conducting a large-scale clinical study of Koreans and carrying out active marketing activities such as social contribution activities. It is also analyzed that co-selling with Jeil, which has been established for a long time, has generated synergies. Outpatient prescription performance by year for the top three products in 2010-2019 (Unit: ₩100 million, Source: UBIST) BMS's Baraclude has accumulated over ₩1.23 trillion in the past 10 years. This means that the company has recorded more than ₩100 billion in prescriptions over the past 10 years. There are only two products, Lipitor and Baraclude, that have recorded prescriptions worth ₩ one trillion over 10 years. Baraclude has been the leader in prescriptions for the longest period of 2010, with outpatient prescriptions soaring from ₩ 88.8 billion in 2010 to ₩193.1 billion in 2014. However, after the emergence of competitive drugs and generic patent expiration, it fell to ₩71.4 billion in 2019 due to the entry of generics. Outpatient prescriptions decreased 63% QoQ. The rival drug Viread has been ranked 3rd in terms of cumulative prescriptions, with prescriptions worth ₩847 billion for the past 10 years. Viread, which appeared in the domestic market in 2013, led the year with a record of ₩166 billion in 2017, but fell to ₩106.8 billion last year. Since the entry into the generics market, drug prices have dropped sharply. Baraclude and Viread, along with Lipitor, dominated the prescription drug market in the 2010s, but suffered the upswing in generics after the patent expiration. During the decade of the 2010s, the top spot for prescriptions was granted to only three items: Lipitor, Baraclude, and Viread. After Lipitor took the top spot in 2010, Baraclude took the lead for five years from 2011 to 2015. In 2016, Lipitor recaptured the first place in six years, but in 2017, gave the lead. Since then, due to drug price cuts and the general offensive, Viread's prescription performance has slowed down. In 2018, Lipitor returned to the top position and remained the number one for two consecutive years until last year. AstraZeneca's hyperlipidemia treatment, Crestor recorded a total prescription amount of ₩803.3 billion over the last 10 years. Sanofi's anti-thrombotic drug Plavix has accumulated cumulative prescriptions of ₩721.9 billion since 2010. Boehringer Ingelheim's Twynstar (Telmisartan/Amlodipine) has been prescribed for ₩711.8 billion over the last 10 years. Antihypertensive drugs, Exforge & Amosartan, Norvasc, and prostatic hyperplasia treatment, Harnal have been listed in the top 10 items with the highest prescription rates in the last decade. Over the past decade, the trend in prescription drug sales has been clear. Multinational pharmaceutical companies with patent-expired drugs implemented their market defense strategy by strengthening their sales force through joint sales agreements with domestic pharmaceutical companies. Crestor's outpatient prescriptions peaked at ₩100.8 billion in 2014 from ₩66.8 billion in 2010 and then turned downward. However, the company has continued its uptrend for the second straight year, reaching ₩74.1 billion in 2018 and ₩84 billion in 2019. AstraZeneca has been co-selling Crestor with Daewoong Pharmaceutical since 2016. Last year, prescription sales for Plavix increased by 17.3% year-on-year to ₩88.9 billion. In 2013, it fell to ₩46.4 billion in 2013 from ₩95.8 billion in 2010, but recovered ₩60 billion in the following year, up 48.2% in five years. Two years after launching joint sales with Dong-wha in 2017, the prescription performance jumped 28.1%, which is considered to be an effective defense against the generic offensive. More than 100 generic products for Twynsta have been poured to the market since its patent expiration in 2013, but there has been no change in prescription performance. After peaking at ₩97.7 billion in 2016, the market faltered to ₩81.2 billion in 2017 and ₩80.3 billion in 2018, but rebounded to ₩84.7 billion last year. Twynsta is co-sold by Yuhan. (Clockwise from top left) Lipitor, Baraclude, Viread, Albis, Stillen, & Hepsera The top prescriptions in 2010 and 2019 were also changed significantly. Dong-A ST's gastritis treatment Stillen, which was ranked fourth in 2010 with a prescription amount of ₩88.3 billion, disappeared from the top of 2019. In 2011, the prescription amount of Stillen, jumped to ₩93.3 billion, but its market position has declined significantly since the emergence of generics. In 2017, the reimbursement for prevention of gastritis was deleted, and even reimbursement benefit was cut in half. Last year, outpatient prescriptions amounted to ₩9.3 billion, which was only about one tenth of 2010. Chong Kun Dang's high blood pressure treatment, Dilatrend, Pfizer's Norvasc, Daewoong's brain function improver Gliatilin, and MSD's asthma treatment, Singulair disappeared from the top of 2019. On the other hand, Daewoong Bio's brain function improver Gliatamin, Boehringer Ingelheim's Twynsta, Hanmi's Rosuzet, Eisai's brain function improver Aricept, Hanmi’s Amosartan have newly ranked at the top.Top 10 Outpatient Prescription Products in 2010 and 2019 (Unit: ₩100 million, Source: UBIST)
- Opinion
- [Reporter’s view]2019n-CoV & safety ignorance of companies
- by Kim, Jin-Gu Feb 12, 2020 06:27am
- Rumor has it that the new coronavirus confirmers 17 and 19 are employees of pharmaceutical companies. The fact is not known. However, it is speculated that they were attending a plastic surgery conference held in Singapore recently, and the KCDC confirmed that they are not doctors. More important than rumor is the possibility that pharmaceutical salespersons can become super propagators, and this is the ripple effect.. Many pharmaceutical companies have already started working at home or are encouraging salespeople to refrain from visiting hospitals. It is a measure to protect the company's sales staff and to prevent the spread of the virus. Most of these steps have been taken by global pharmaceutical companies. Among domestic firms, only Samil was found to be working from home. Most of the other domestic companies are taking measures that say, "Be careful", and they are told to wear mask and hand sanitizer when visiting hospital. Rather, some domestic executives are saying that the crisis is an opportunity. This situation would have prompted other pharmaceutical salespersons to visit their main rivals’ hospitals. It is a sophistication. It is also very dangerous gambling. If there is a confirmer among pharmaceutical salespeople, it is obvious that the issue will not end at one of those employees. In general, it is known that there are as many as 5~15 visiting places a day by one salesperson. Considering the medical staff, patients, and caregivers of the hospitals and pharmacies he visited, it is estimated that 1,000 people will be direct or indirect contacts. Some of them will become new infected people and spread the virus to their family and colleagues at home and at work. In terms of corporate profits, huge losses are inevitable. When the confirmed person comes out, the clinic closes, and the sales from this disappear. The company should also be accused of promoting virus outbreaks. Working from home or refraining from hospital visits is not the only obvious solution to the new coronavirus outbreak. However, in the situation where the whole society is trying to prevent the spread of the virus, unnecessary retrogradation should disappear. This time, it is wrong to say that crisis is an opportunity.
- Policy
- Meqsel+Rafinlar combination NSCLC indication reimbursed
- by Kim, Jung-Ju Feb 12, 2020 06:27am
- Korea’s top healthcare reimbursement decision-making body has passed listing of Yooyoung Pharmaceutical’s chronic constipation treatment Rucalo tablet (prucalopride succinate) and expanded reimbursement on Novartis Korea’s Meqsel (trametinib dimethyl sulfoxide) plus Rafinlar (dabrafenib mesylate) combination therapy. The revised List of Reimbursed Drug with the said changes came in effect from Feb. 10. Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) has disclosed the outcomes on Feb. 6 of Health Insurance Policy Deliberation Committee (HIPDC) deliberating the changes on the List of Reimbursed Drug and Maximum Reimbursed Price. Rucalo tablet was released in Korean market in January last year as a treatment for adults with chronic constipation, who does not respond to conventional laxative The drug was waiting for the final call on reimbursement listing as Drug Reimbursement Evaluation Committee (DREC) under Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service (HIRA) has cleared reimbursement feasibility and pricing negotiation with National Health Insurance Service (NHIS) reached an agreement. The maximum price was set at 127 won per 1 mg tablet and 191 won per 2 mg tablet. Used to treat BRAF V600E mutation-confirmed metastatic melanoma, Meqsel plus Rafinlar combination therapy has been listed for reimbursement since November 2017. But as the combination therapy was additionally indicated for treating non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patient with confirmed BRAF V600E mutation, the company applied for adjustment of maximum price and expanded reimbursement. The pricing negotiation of the combination therapy with NHIS immediately followed the reimbursement approval by HIRA’s Cancer Disease Deliberation Committee and DREC last year. However, the combination therapy was given a choice to get reimbursement with risk sharing agreement (RSA) in combination of expenditure cap type and induction therapy refund type, because the additional indication was estimated to cost approximately 20 billion won annually, according to NHIS’ estimated amount of claim. For the expenditure cap type RSA, when the actual amount claimed with reimbursement exceeds the cap of estimated amount of claim set during the pricing negotiation, the pharmaceutical company has to pay NHIS back the set ratio of exceeded amount. As for induction therapy refund type, the pharmaceutical company has to refund the cost of the treatment administration in induction therapy phase. The details of the agreement is undisclosed between NHIS and the company. The maximum reimbursed price for Meqsel was readjusted to 128,344 won per 2 mg tablet, 32,086 won per 0.5 mg tablet. Rafinlar’s price was set to 24,751 won per 50 mg capsule, and 36,336 won per 75 mg capsule.
- Company
- JAK-inhibiting oral antirheumatic drug market getting fuller
- by Eo, Yun-Ho Feb 11, 2020 06:31am
- Orally taken antirheumatic treatment, JAK inhibitor drug market in Korea would be soon led by four competitors. According to pharmaceutical industry, the close competition between Pfizer’s Xeljanz (tofacitinib) and Lilly’s Olumiant (baricitinib) would get even intensified as Astellas Pharma’s Smyraf (peficitinib) entered the competition last month and AbbVie’s upadacitinib is awaiting Ministry of Food and Drug Safety’s nod at the moment. Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitor has gotten the industry’s attention since its release, because it was first oral therapeutic option for autoimmune disease with equivalent treatment level as anti-TNF medicine. However, its position in the market is not as influential as other biologics. While anti-TNF drug and anti-interleukin drug have consolidated their positions in the market, JAK inhibitors’ indications have been too narrow except for rheumatoid arthritis. Global Sales Volume of Anti-TNF Drugs and JAK Inhibitor Drugs (Unit: KRW 100 million) In other words, JAK inhibitor still has much more potential. The first JAK inhibitor, Xeljanz was additionally indicated for treating ulcerative colitis and psoriatic arthritis, and other following drugs have ongoing trials to expand indications treating autoimmune diseases like atopic dermatitis, Crohn’s disease and ankylsoing spondylitis. Once Smyraf and upadacitinib enter the market, and Gilead Sciences’ filgotinib, currently under review in the U.S. and Europe, is commercialized in Korea, JAK inhibitor market with convenience of oral administration option would naturally grow. But also there is a drawback. JAK inhibitor recently had an adverse reaction issue regarding cardiovascular system safety when administering high dose. Although direct relationship of cause-and-effect has not been fully confirmed, warning has been labeled on the high-dose prescription of the three drugs. High-dose of the drugs is prescribed for rheumatoid arthritis and other major indications. JAK inhibitors block inflammatory cytokine cell’s family of Janus kinase enzymes (JAK1, JAK2, JAK3, and TYK2). Different kinds of JAK inhibitors share the same mechanism of actions but with some intricate differences. Xeljanz inhibits JAK1 and JAK3, Olumiant blocks JAK1 and JAK2, whereas Smyraf blocks JAK1, JAK2, JAK3 and TYK2. Upadacitinib and filgotinib interferes activity of JAK1.
- Opinion
- All the access in China must be cut off
- by Nho, Byung Chul Feb 11, 2020 06:30am
- Professor Young-Bong Kim2019n-CoV is a RNA virus belonging to beta corona, similar to SARS or MERS, and is a common infectious disease with high mortality due to the absence of vaccines and treatments. The mortality rate of SARS and MERS was 10% and 30%, respectively. This is due to the level of medical care, and because it has very high gene homology with SARS and the same cellular receptor uses ACE2, it can be regarded as a second SARS virus. Viral disease, like a fire, early response is very important. The first thing you need to do when it is fire is to scream. That way, you should alert your surroundings so you don't miss an initial response. It's better to stay a bit more fuzzy than a big accident. Already, China failed to respond early, putting the entire region at risk, not just Hubei. Soon there will be more than 100,000 official infections, and already they have grown exponentially, but the diagnostic system will not follow them, and statistics will be missing. However, the death toll continues to rise, with exponential growth at some stages, and mortality is expected to be higher than now. 2019n-CoV is not a strong viruse when tested for virus inactivation. The virus is exactly the same as the cold epidemic of RNA viruses with temperature- and humidity-sensitive envelopes. The strength of the virus' propagation is important, but it's more affected by the environment. In other words, SARS inactivation test results show that at 4 ℃, the phenomenon is relatively stable in pH 3 or chemical disinfectant (formaldehyde based), etc., and this phenomenon is maintained until at least the end of March. Korea has experience of MERS in 2015, so the monitoring management system and the negative pressure isolation ward facility of the KCDC have been prepared. There is no infection in the hospital and the initial response is still good. This is also a reward for MERS. However, as new inflows continue and the second and third epidemics increase, the domestic virus disease response system is bound to reach its limit. Fortunately, even if it doesn't spread to serious pandemics, if the situation lasts until the end of March or April, people's fatigue and economic impact will be hard to say. The current diagnosis system cannot completely diagnose the carriers, so if we do not block the entry of infected people from China, we can become like other parts of China, so more preventive measures are required. It should be borne in mind that the last domestic MERS outbreak was caused by only one super infected person. The winter is a pleasant environment for viruses. No 2019n-CoV without a drug or vaccine can be prevented by justice and can only be solved by scientific protection.
- Product
- It costs ₩867 million to become a physician
- by Kang, Shin-Kook Feb 11, 2020 06:29am
- It is estimated that it costs ₩867 million from entering medical school to obtaining professional qualification. The Korean Medical Association(KMA)'s research institute for healthcare policy (Director Deok-sun Ahn) announced on the 7th that it has published a research report on the estimation of doctor training costs and public support. According to the research report, the average cost of education per student in the basic medical education stage (1 year of premedical course and 1 year of regular course) was ₩64.97 million (minimum ₩54.12 million, maximum ₩77.62 million). Divided into premedical courses and medical courses, the average annual education cost per premedical student was ₩25.3 million (at least ₩14.93 million, up to ₩38.81 million). The average annual education cost per medical student was ₩39.95 million (minimum ₩3257 million, maximum ₩48.51 million). As a result of estimating the cost of internships, the average annual training cost per intern was ₩73 million (min. ₩55.5 million, max. ₩93.95 million). As a result of estimating the training costs of majors (5 departments: internal medicine, surgery, obstetrics, pediatrics, family medicine, etc.), the average annual training cost for each major is ₩146.04 million(minimum ₩111.18 million, max. ₩187 million). According to the results of estimating the cost of each doctor's training, the total cost of training one doctor (to become a specialist) is ₩887 million, and the total annual cost for training doctors is ₩2.7175 billion. On the other hand, in the US, UK, Germany, Japan, and Canada, the state and society share a large part of the cost of physician training. In the United States, for example, the share of medical costs needed to train doctors is shared by various organizations, including 23% in the state, 8% in federal research funds, 18% in medical schools, 28% in clinical care, and donations. According to the U.S. medical schools, 70% of the per capita training costs are shared by Medicare (20% direct, 50% indirect) and 30% by Medicaid and other private health insurance companies. Korea's budget is ₩72 trillion (₩60 trillion in social welfare and ₩12 trillion in health care) in 2019, and in the budget, the portion for training and aptitude and supply of medical personnel is ₩24.9 billion, of which, the budget for support for nurturing majors and qualification examinations for specialists is about ₩1.3 billion. The Research institute for healthcare policy said, "As the social interest in patient safety increases, the education and training environment for excellent doctor training is increasing, the study was meaningful in estimating the cost of training and total cost per doctor and suggesting the justification for public support". The research institute said, “Based on the results of the study on the estimation of the cost of doctor training and public support measures, it is necessary to form a consultative body for social discussion of the cost sharing of doctor training, and social councils should involve the important stakeholders in health care, the nation, the Korean Medical Association, medical schools, intern & training Centers, local governments, and the general public”.
