Statin + ezetimibe comb emerging as cashcows…33 over KRW 10B

Last year, 4 statin + ezetimibe combination drugs with more than KRW 100 billion in sales

Products with over KRW 10 billion, 11→33 in 5 years

4 out of 6 pitavastatin+ezetimibe combination drugs exceeded KRW 10B in sales

Hanmi, Organon, Yuhan, and JW Pharmaceutical are showing an increasing sales trend

In the Korean pharmaceutical industry, combination drugs containing statin + ezetimibe have become strong cash cows. Last year, 33 products surpassed KRW 10 billion in prescription sales, contributing to the company's firm performance. Notably, four products achieved annual prescriptions exceeding KRW 100 billion.

Prescription sales of 20 combination drugs containing rosuvastatin‧ezetimibe surpassed KRW 10 billion. Hanmi Pharmaceutical, with Rosuzet as a key product, generated over KRW 200 billion in the statin + ezetimibe market, while Organon, Yuhan Corporation, and JW Pharmaceutical also gained high profits from these combinations.

Last year, 33 statin+ezetimibe combination products recorded over KRW 10 billion…4 items surpassed KRW 100 billion

According to pharmaceutical market research firm UBIST, 33 statin+ezetimibe combination products recorded over KRW 10 billion in prescriptions last year, an increase of six items from 27 in 2024.

Statin + ezetimibe combination drugs exceeding KRW 10 billion in annual prescription sales (unit: KRW 100 million, source: UBIST). GRAY: simvastatin + ezetimibe, ORANGE: pitavastatin+ezetimibe, RED: atorvastatin+ezetimibe, BLUE: rosuvastatin+ezetimibe

Currently, four types of statin+ezetimibe combinations are available, ezetimibe + four tyeps of statin (simvastatin, rosuvastatin, atorvastatin, or pitavastatin). Last year, the rosuvastatin+ezetimibe market was the largest at KRW 809.6 billion, followed by atorvastatin+ezetimibe at KRW 380 billion and pitavastatin+ezetimibe at KRW 185.3 billion.

Statin+ezetimibe combinations that generated over KRW 10 billion in prescription sales have tripled in five years, from 11 items in. The products in the '100 Billion KRW Club' continued to join every year, growing from 11 in 2020 to 13 in 2021, 18 in 2022, and 23 in 2023.

Last year, there were four items with KRW 100 billion in prescription sales.

Rosuzet by Hanmi Pharmaceutical, the first domestically developed statin + ezetimibe combination drug, recorded KRW 227.9 billion. Since its 2015 launch, Hanmi has secured an early lead by obtaining rights to ezetimibe usage from the patent holder, MSD. Currently, 50 domestic pharmaceutical companies have entered the statin + ezetimibe combination drug market.

Atozet by Organon, the original atorvastatin + ezetimibe combination, reached KRW 127.3 billion in sales. This drug surpassed KRW 100 billion for the first time recording KRW 102.1 billion in 2023. It recorded sales above KRW 100 billion for three consecutive years, despite generic competition.

LivaloZet by JW Pharmaceutical generated KRW 117 billion last year, becoming the second domestically developed product to join the '100 billion won club.' LivaloZet is a combination drug of pitavastatin + ezetimibe. LivaloZet achieved remarkable success in 2022, with prescription sales of KRW 31.8 billion. Sales skyrocketed to KRW 70.4 billion and KRW 93.3 billion in 2023 and 2024, respectively. LivaloZet showed notable growth last year, surpassing KRW 100 billion in sales for the first time.

Yuhan Corporation's rosuvastatin + ezetimibe combination, Rosuvamibe, joined the '100 billion won club' with prescription sales of KRW 102.2 billion last year. Rosuvamibe surpassed KRW 100 billion in annual prescriptions in its 10th year since its launch in 2016. It is recording a high growth rate, expanding by 88.1% over five years from a prescription volume of KRW 54.3 billion in 2020.

20 items with rosuvastatin + ezetimibe over KRW 10B

Looking at the number of products with prescriptions over KRW 10 billion by ingredient for statin + ezetimibe combinations, rosuvastatin + ezetimibe accounted for more than half, with 20 items. This is more than double the nine items recorded in 2020.

Following Rosuzet and Rosuvamibe, HK inno.N's Rovazet showed strength with a prescription volume of KRW 56.6 billion last year. Rovazet expanded more than twofold over five years, from KRW 27.5 billion in 2020, and last year's prescription volume increased by 19.6% compared to the previous year.

Last year's prescriptions for Daewoong Pharmaceutical's Crezet reached KRW 47.7 billion, a 24.2% increase from the previous year. It has maintained a high-growth trend, more than doubling from KRW 20 billion in 2020 to KRW 45 billion over the past five years. GC Biopharma's Daviduo and Aju Pharmaceutical's Cretrol recorded prescriptions of KRW 34.4 billion and KRW 30.3 billion, respectively, last year, emerging as flagship medications for their companies.

Huons, Jeil Pharmaceutical, Myungmoon Pharm, Mothers Pharmaceutical, and Abbott recorded over KRW 20 billion in prescriptions for rosuvastatin + ezetimibe combinations. Ahn-gook Pharmaceutical, Kyungdong Pharm, Dongkook Pharm, Hana Pharm, HLB Pharmaceutical, Kukje Pharma, Medica Korea, Daewoong Pharmaceutical, and Shinpoong Pharm recorded over KRW 10 billion.

For atorvastatin + ezetimibe combinations, a total of 8 products recorded prescriptions totaling over KRW 10 billion last year. While five products each recorded over KRW 10 billion in 2023 and 2024, three additional products rose above KRW 10 billion last year.

Jeil Pharmaceutical's Lipitor Plus recorded the highest domestic prescription volume at KRW 47.7 billion last year. Jeil Pharmaceutical is co-marketing Lipitor Plus with Viatris. Lipitor Plus grew nearly twofold from KRW 13.4 billion in 2022 to KRW 26.4 billion in 2023, and then reached KRW 38.4 billion in 2024, with an annual increase of about KRW 10 billion. Last year's prescriptions increased by 24.2% year-on-year.

Yuhan Corporation's Atorvamibe surpassed KRW 20 billion last year with KRW 23.2 billion in prescriptions, a 45.2% increase from the previous year. Atorvamibe soared 157.8% in three years from KRW 9 billion in 2022. Daewoong Pharmaceutical's Litorvazet recorded KRW 20.1 billion in prescriptions last year. Both Yuhan Corporation and Daewoong Pharmaceutical achieved success in the atorvastatin + ezetimibe market, following the rosuvastatin + ezetimibe market. 

Ahn-gook Pharmaceutical, Boryung, HK inno.N, and KyungDong Pharm also saw their atorvastatin + ezetimibe combinations reach over KRW 10 billion in prescriptions.

In the pitavastatin + ezetimibe combination market, a total of 4 products showed prescription performance of over KRW 10 billion last year.

Following LivaloZet, products such as Ahn-gook Pharmaceutical's Pevarozet, Daewon Pharmaceutical's Tavalozet, Boryung's Lzerozet, Dongkwang Pharm's PZ, and Hanlim Pharm's Stazet have entered the market. Ahn-gook Pharmaceutical, along with Daewon Pharmaceutical, Boryung, DongKwang, and Hanlim Pharm, successfully invalidated the patents related to the pitavastatin + ezetimibe combination in April 2021. Following clinical trials, they obtained item approval in May 2023. Ahn-gook Pharmaceutical is responsible for the production of pitavastatin + ezetimibe combinations for all five of these companies.

Ahn-gook Pharmaceutical's Pevarozet created a sensation last year, with prescription volume of KRW 29.2 billion, a 158.6% increase from the previous year. Pevarozet is aggressively targeting the market by highlighting its 46% smaller formulation size compared to LivaloZet, which significantly improves patient convenience with medication. Additionally, Daewon Pharmaceutical's Tavalozet and Boryung's Lzerozet recorded prescription performances of KRW 18.2 billion and KRW 13.4 billion, respectively, last year.

In the pitavastatin + ezetimibe combination market, a total of 4 products recorded prescription sales of over KRW 10 billion last year.

In the simvastatin + ezetimibe combination drug market, only one product, Organon's Vytorin, showed prescription performance of over KRW 10 billion last year.

Looking at the prescription performance of statin + ezetimibe combinations by company, Hanmi Pharmaceutical maintained its lead with KRW 227.9 billion from a single item, Rosuzet. Organon, Yuhan Corporation, and JW Pharmaceutical demonstrated strength by recording sales exceeding KRW 100 billion. Jeil Pharmaceutical, HK inno.N, Daewoong Pharmaceutical, and Ahn-gook Pharmaceutical recorded over KRW 50 billion in the statin + ezetimibe market.