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- 2026-03-19 08:09:25
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- Eisai’s low-dose Pariet passed by general hospital DCs
- by Eo, Yun-Ho Mar 03, 2020 06:10am
- Low-dose Pariet is landing on general hospital prescription code. Pharmaceutical industry source reported Drug Committees in Severance Hospital, Samsung Medical Center, and Korea University Guro Hospital cleared proton pump inhibitor (PPI) Pariet 5 mg tablet (rabeprazole sodium), which received National Health Insurance reimbursement in last September. The newly launched Pariet 5 mg tablet has the lowest dose of the active ingredient among all PPI and rabeprazole medications available in Korea. Pariet 5 mg tablet, the only rabeprazole medication indicated for patients taking low-dose aspirin in Korea, differentiates itself from high-dose PPI medication as a lowest-dose PPI medication. The drug was released in Korea following the first global release in Japan. And by signing a co-marketing contract with Yuhan for marketing and sales in Korea, Eisai Korea is aiming to expand PPI market dominance. The current co-marketing deal is limited to low-dose (5 mg) tablet of Pariet, and the two companies are in discussion to expand the contract to cover all doses (10 mg and 20 mg) of the Pariet brand. The efficacy and safety of Pariet 5 mg tablet was confirmed through randomized, double-blind, multicenter PLANETARIUM study. 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 taking 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. It confirmed meaningful treatment effect in Pariet patient groups.
- Company
- GSK speeds up development of COVID-19 vaccine
- by Eo, Yun-Ho Mar 02, 2020 06:22am
- GSK is focusing its capabilities on developing the COVID-19 vaccine GSK recently announced cooperation with China's biotech company Clover, following the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI). Together, Clover and GSK will jointly develop a protein-based COVID-19 vaccine candidate (COVID-19 S-Trimer). GSK will provide its pandemic adjuvant system to clover for evaluation of S-trimers in the preclinical research phase. Adjuvants are added to some vaccines to boost the immune response and produce a stronger and longer lasting immunity to infection than using the vaccine alone. Clover has China's largest commercial cGMP biopharmaceutical manufacturing capacity, and is expected to rapidly expand and mass produce COVID-19 vaccine production facilities. GSK also provides adjuvant technology to CEPI. CEPI will act as a coordinator between CESK-supported companies and GSK, who want to test their vaccine platform using GSK's adjuvant technology to develop effective COVID-19 vaccines. The agreement was signed between GSK and the University of Queensland, Australia. The University of Queensland began working with the CEPI in January to develop a 'molecular clamp' vaccine platform to enable rapid targeted vaccine production to prevent multiple viral pathogens. The CEPI has decided to extend its support for vaccine platforms to the development of COVID-19 vaccine candidates, and this early stage research is supported by access to GSK adjuvant technology. The announcement also includes four previously announced CEPI research programs in progress with CureVac, Innovio, the University of Queensland, Moderna, and the NIAID, for the development of COVID-19. GSK officials said, "We look forward to helping partners with COVID-19 vaccine candidates by providing their adjuvant technology. Adjuvant can reduce the amount of vaccine protein required per dose, as a result, more vaccine doses can be produced and consequently contributes to the protection of more people".
- Company
- Hanmi-GC sign MOU for new drug R&D partnership
- by Chon, Seung-Hyun Mar 02, 2020 06:21am
- Hanmi Pharmaceutical and GC Pharma have inked the first new drug R&D partnership deal in the history. Two companies would concentrate their R&D capacity to increase the possibility of successful development of an innovative new drug. On Feb. 27, Hanmi Pharmaceutical and GC Pharma have announced the two have signed MOU on co-developing next generation enzyme replacement therapy (ERT) for rare disease on Feb. 26. At the GC Pharma headquarter, Hanmi Pharmaceutical President and CEO Kwon Se-chang and GC Pharma CEO Huh Eun Chul were convened at MOU signing ceremony along with other major R&D associates of two companies. The MOU promises two companies’ collaboration of candidate medicine exploration to the investigational drug commercialization targeting lysosomal storage disease (LSD). Based on Hanmi Pharmaceutical’s agent patent, GC Pharma is to lend their hands on developing the agent. Containing many hydrolysis enzymes, lysosome is a small organelle in a cell that functions as digestive system. However, excessive storage of lysosome could cause severe metabolic disease leading up to death. Apparently, about 4,000 patients in Korea are suffering from LSD. There are about 50 rare diseases induced by lysosomal storage. Currently, LSD patients are treated with ERT that intravenously injects enzyme made from a patient’s genetic recombination. The point of the MOU is to develop a breakthrough ERT that significantly enhances safety, half-life, administration convenience, and financial burden of the first generation treatment. Two companies aim to result in innovative new drug development by integrating Hanmi Pharmaceutical and GC Pharma’s R&C capacity. The plan is to maximize R&D synergy through sharing material resource, human resource, and R&D collaboration. R&D partnership between Hanmi Pharmaceutical and GC Pharma is a first time. Both companies anticipate raising the potential of new drug development by converging Hanmi Pharmaceutical’s new drug development capacity and GC Pharma’s rare disease treatment development expertise. GC Phrama has a history of developing Hunterase, a treatment for Hunter syndrome, a kind of LSDs. President Kwon Se-chang of Hanmi Pharmaceutical said, “GC Pharma has specialized expertise in rare disease sector, but more importantly it sets out a vision of innovation. We hope to present hopes to patients suffering from rare disease by putting together Hanmi Pharmaceutical’s rich experience in R&D and GC Pharma’s specialized expertise.” GC Pharma CEO Huh Eun Chul stressed, “We are more than thrilled to collaborate with Hanmi Pharmaceutical making new histories in pharmaceutical R&D in Korea. The R&D partnership of two companies with respective strengths would bridge the next generation treatment development in rare disease to an improvement in innovative treatment environment.”
- Company
- Panicking with first confirmed COVID-19 in industry
- by Chon, Seung-Hyun Feb 28, 2020 06:03am
- Korean pharmaceutical industry now has a first confirmed case of the 2019 novel coronavirus, COVID-19. Working at a research laboratory without much of external interaction, the infected employee is not expected to create a severe impact. But pharmaceutical companies are reinforcing precautionary measures against disease transmission. More pharmaceutical companies are ordering their employees to work from home and desperately trying to minimize break at work. ◆ Dong-A ST R&D Center employee tested positive, first confirmed case in the industry Dong-A ST R&D Center Pharmaceutical industry source reported on Feb. 27, a female employee working at Dong-A ST’s R&D Center located in city of Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, has been tested positive for COVID-19. Within pharmaceutical industry, she is the first confirmed case of COVID-19. The employee has visited Andong, North Gyeongsang Province, from Feb. 22 to 23. On Feb. 25, the employee received a message that Andong Health Center has confirmed a positive case, where the employee has been. After receiving the relayed message from her, Dong-A ST ordered the employee to self-quarantined herself and had her tested at Giheung-gu Health Center of Yongin, Gyeonggi Province. Apparently, she is not a researcher, but a part-time staff assisting laboratory experiment. Dong-A ST immediately closed down and disinfected the R&D center and its nearby Human Resource Center. All employees at the R&D center were ordered to self-quarantine for two weeks. From 4 p.m. on the same day, Dong-A ST has ordered their headquarter employees to leave offices and work from until Feb. 28. Although the infected employee has not visited the headquarter office, the company has decided to disinfect the entire headquarter building to prevent any further spread of the infection. Sales force of the company has been working from home starting from Feb. 25. Because of the preventive measure, the entire Dong-A ST R&D Center is halted. As the research work can only be done at laboratories, working from home is technically impossible and ongoing research programs would be suspended for a while. Because of one employee at Dong-A ST R&D Center, the whole pharmaceutical company has been stirred. The laboratory assistant apparently had not directly interacted with many other employees at the building with the nature of her work. But Dong-A ST cannot risk affecting other pharmaceutical companies in case other employees at the research center has contracted COVID-19. ◆ Pharmaceutical companies on high alert, infected salesperson would impact the industry Pharmaceutical companies are significantly reinforcing precautionary measures with the first case confirmed within the industry. At the moment, the industry is relieved it was not a salesperson who contracted COVID-19. If it were the case, the impact would have been devastating for the industry. With their nature of visiting tens of healthcare centers a day, sales forces could be a dangers carrier of COVID-19. While the government focuses on blocking secondary and tertiary infection by disclosing and immediately closing down locations a confirmed patient has visited. Some criticizes pharmaceutical companies letting their salespeople go around healthcare institutes is being ignorant about the severity of the risk. For instance, if a salesperson visiting 20 healthcare institutes a day were to have been tested positive, medical professionals, all patients and their families could have been exposed to the risk. The government announces all routes of infected patient, and healthcare institutes and pharmacies visited by an infected salesperson would unavoidably make a loss. A hospital restricted entry of pharmaceutical salesperson Assuming a salesperson has contracted COVID-19, the industry would inevitably get scrutinized for spreading the virus. The infected salesperson would be reprehended for spreading the virus around and damaging healthcare institutes. On Feb. 20, Korean Medical Practitioners Association has issued an official statement to Korea Pharmaceutical and Bio-pharma Manufacturers Association (KPBMA) and other organization to refrain salespeople from visiting hospitals and clinics. With the situation, pharmaceutical companies’ sales divisions are basically open with no business. Started with multinational pharmaceutical companies from last month, working from home has been recommended among Korean companies as well. Pfizer Pharmaceutical Korea, Novartis Korea, MSD Korea, AstraZeneca Korea, Bristol-Myers Squibb Korea, Sanofi-Aventis Korea, AbbVie Korea, Amgen Korea, Gilead Sciences Korea, Mundipharma Korea, Baxter Korea, Janssen Korea, and Bridge Biotherapeutics have decided to have all employees work from home. As for Korean companies, the managements of Hanmi Pharmaceutical, LG Chem, GC Pharma, CJ HealthCare, Dong-A ST, and Dong Wha Pharm have banned their employees to visit healthcare institutes. As COVID-19 has been spreading rapidly since Feb. 19 centering Daegu, North Gyeongsang Province, more companies are considering on having office staffs, not just salespeople, to work from home,. A source from a pharmaceutical company commented, “Because COVID-19 continues to spread exponentially, most of employees have been ordered to cancel external meetings and to work from home for all employee is being considered.” Over the span of 27 days, 505 have been confirmed with COVID-19 infection overnight. The number of total confirmed cases in Korea has soared to 1,766. 13 deaths from the infection have been reported in Korea so far. Most of companies have started to work in flexible or reduced hours. The maximum working hours in Dong-a ST has been reduced to from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Chong Kun Dang also segmented commuting time frame for each division to commute in. Other companies have suspended use of company cafeteria or divided employees to have their meals in different time. ◆ Industry fatigued with long-term outbreak, business and performance to take unwanted break Severance Hospital and other general hospitals have completely banned ward visitation to prevent spread of COVID-19 Apparently, the pharmaceutical companies are complaining of their extremely fatigued from the prolonged outbreak. A pharmaceutical company insider noted, “Working from home for a month, business to be done face-to-face has been suspended. By avoiding meetings with vendors and clients as much as possible, the company’s productivity has dropped dramatically.” Beside the low productivity, the companies also have to worry about the steep fall in sales. Pharmaceutical market research firm UBIST found last month’s outpatient prescription volume marked 1.25 trillion won. The figure dipped by 4.4 percent compared to same period last year, and by 4.6 percent compared to the previous month. It contrasts from recent January prescription volumes that have constantly increased over 5 percent every year. The volume in January 2019 was raised by 8.5 percent than January 2018. Januaries in 2016, 2017 and 2018 have surged by 5.4 percent, 7.6 percent and 18.2 percent, respectively, than the previous years. Although the early Lunar Calendar New Years may have affected the prescription volume with less number of working days, majority of experts analyze COVID-19 outbreak is the biggest cause of fall in outpatient prescription volume. The public has been on high alert since the first case of COVID-19 was confirmed on Jan. 20. The outpatient prescription from then was stricken by increasing number of patients avoiding healthcare institutes. The companies are anxious that this month’s sales would be even worse. Except for patients with severe or chronic disease, other patients with mild condition would naturally hesitate to visit healthcare institute. A decrease in number of patients would bring down the drug sales straight. Also, hindered sales activity would cripple Korean pharmaceutical companies highly dependent on generics. Within the same class of drugs, generic sales are swung by sales force. Meanwhile, breakthrough drugs or new drugs without generic and alternative options would hardly get affected from impeded sales activity. Salespeople staying away from healthcare institutes could also drag down the inflow of cash. Usually, the salespeople visit healthcare institutes and pharmacies to settle the drug product payments. But as most of healthcare institutes are obviously shunning the salespeople, collecting bills would also get difficult. A pharmaceutical company insider commented, “The company is deeply stressed about counteracting against the COVID-19 outbreak that doesn’t seem to ease out any time soon. This year’s overall sales would plummet if the situation lingers longer.”
- Company
- Pharmaceutical staff struggle to work from home
- by Jung, Hye-Jin Feb 27, 2020 06:35am
- In the aftermath of COVID-19, face-to-face sales activities at pharmaceutical companies have declined, and alternative sales activities are increasing online. From academic papers provided by the company to light-looking articles created by the company. Pharmaceutical officials are working hard to maintain relationships with hospital doctors. But behind these phenomena lies the pressure that salespeople must meet their current goals during their telecommuting work, as well as their admiration for proving sales to the company. According to the pharmaceutical industry, COVID-19 is showing signs of spread across the country. The meeting between the pharmaceutical company representative and the hospital doctor is virtually suspended. Currently, most hospitals forbid the entry of pharmaceutical company Staff because they are concerned about the spread of infectious diseases. The Korean Medical Practitioners Association, a group of clinic-level doctors, sent a letter to the Korea Pharmaceutical Bio Association and the KRPIA on the 20th requesting refusal to visit sales representatives. Since a clinic has been banned from entering a pharmaceutical company, there are a growing number of pharmaceutical companies that choose to work from home. A number of multinational pharmaceutical companies, including Amgen Korea, Pfizer Korea, Novartis Korea, MSD Korea, and Roche Korea, have started working from home. Among domestic pharmaceutical companies, LG Chem, GC Pharma, CJ Healthcare, Jeil Pharm, Dong-wha Pharm, Hanmi Pharm, etc., have been working from home in full or some sales employees. As of the 24th, when the government upgraded the stage of infectious disease crisis to "severe" and delayed the opening of kindergartens and schools, more pharma companies returned to work at home. Separately, on the 25th, the building was closed at LS Yongsan Tower, located in Yongsan, Seoul, and the entire building was closed. GSK, Jansen Korea, and Johnson & Johnson Korea, which are in this building, have been working at home. As the path to face-to-face doctors is blocked, pharmaceutical company managers are turning to online sales activities. The easiest way is to deliver the company-provided academic materials and data to your doctor by kakao talk or text. Some pharmaceutical companies have been developing and operating online platforms to deliver academic information about their products to medical professionals even before the incident. For example, HMP, a medical portal site for Hanmi Pharm, and 'Smart e-Catalog' recently developed by JW Shinyak. Salespeople can easily communicate product information by sending them a link with product details that might be of interest to their major. Further sales staff are appealing to doctors with their own videos or content during their internal and telecommuting hours. Some officials are using relationships that aren't necessarily academic information to keep doctors in touch with fun videos and short humor. A pharmaceutical sales representative said, "There aren't many things we can do at home. We can call a member of the parliament and ask if there is anything they need". Another pharmaceutical company official said, "It's difficult to meet, so it's a trend to send various messages to physicians. Among them, a person who makes a funny video well responds well to doctors". Many of the companies that have switched from outside work to at home also offer internal training for sales. Among them, related product training is not enough to fill the time, so it is recommended to produce the video for each team. This alternative is for the salesperson to imprint himself and the pharmaceutical company to the doctor under the face-to-face prohibition and maintain a good relationship. After that, the company's policy is to maintain the sales staff's monthly sales target and pharmacy's quota as usual even after making a telecommuting work. Along with the net function of alternative operations, the counter function is also being discussed. This is because some of the intentions to focus on sales are regarded as the high pollution of kakaotalk. Salespeople are also sharing the know-how that light and pleasant messages are more effective than heavy academic information. A pharmaceutical salesman said, "work from home was decided, but my goal is the same. Even if I work at home, I feel uncomfortable, so I have no choice but to keep my prescription on the phone or kakaotalk, I can prove to your manager that you worked at that time".
- Company
- Obesity market surpassed ￦100 billion in 10 years
- by An, Kyung-Jin Feb 27, 2020 06:33am
- SaxendaLast year, 'Saxenda', which had gained popularity through going viral with 'Gangnam injection' and 'antiobestic injection', evaluated the domestic obesity treatment market. After 3rd quarterly sales, it gained the top spot, and its market share soared to almost one-third of the entire market. In the wake of the Saxenda, the total market size also recovered to ￦100 billion in 10 years after the withdrawal of Sibutramine. According to the drug research agency IQVIA on the 25th, the market size for obesity drugs last year reached ￦13.4 billion, up 38.6% year-on-year. The appetite suppressant drug, Sibutramine, has exceeded its annual sales of ￦100 billion in 10 years since 2009, immediately before it is evicted due to cardiovascular safety. Saxenda, released in March 2018, stabilized the market, acting as a catalyst for the growth of the domestic obesity treatment market. Saxenda's sales last year rose 465.9% to ￦42.6 billion. The company recorded sales five times higher than the second-largest Dietamin. Yearly market for obesity treatments (Unit: ￦100 million, Source: IQVIA) Saxenda (Liraglutide 3.0mg) is the world's first anti-obesity drug licensed as a GLP-1 (Glucagon-Like Peptide 1) analog. GLP-1 hormone secreted by the body as a food intake is delivered to the hypothalamus of the brain to reduce hunger and increase satiety to regulate appetite. Saxenda acts the same mechanism as GLP-1 in the body, suppressing appetite and weight loss. It is the same ingredient as 'Victoza' (Liraglutide 1.8mg) prescribed for type II diabetics, but its usage and dosage are different. Saxenda announced its presence with sales of ￦1.7 billion in the third quarter of 2018, and topped the list with sales of ￦5.6 billion in the fourth quarter. At the time, the domestic obesity drug market share exceeded 20% Saxenda has maintained sales of around ￦10 billion every quarter since its quarterly sales exceeded ￦10 billion in the first quarter of 2019. In the third quarter of last year, the market share soared to 33.7%. Saxenda's share in the fourth quarter of last year was 32.7%, down slightly from the previous quarter, but it was still overwhelming. Except for Saxenda, there are no anti-obesity drugs with annual sales of over ￦10 billion. Daewoong Pharm's 'Dietamin', which was second in sales after Saxenda, posted sales of ￦9.5 billion, up 6.2% from last year. Ildong Pharmaceutical's 'Belviq' sales, which had recently been forced to exit the market due to increased cancer risk, fell 13.8% from the previous year to ￦8.5 billion. Huon's Hutermin(￦6.2 billion) and Albogen Korea's Furing (￦5.3 billion) ranked among the top five in the domestic sales of obesity drugs, but their market share was less than 5%. Last year, Guangdong Pharmaceutical 'Contrave', which once attracted interest in the anti-obesity market, sold only ￦3.7 billion. It decreased 11.9% year-on-year. Annual sales and rate of increase and decrease of major domestic obesity drugs (Unit: ￦100 million,%, Source: IQVIA) In the industry, despite the handicap of Saxenda injections, Victoza, an anti-diabetic drug with the same ingredient, has shown long-term safety early in the market. Victoza demonstrated a 13% lower risk of cardiovascular death, nonfatal myocardial infarction and stroke in a LEADER study involving more than 9,000 people with type II diabetes. This is reflected in the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and European Drug Administration (EMA) product labels. With the exit of Belviq, it is expected that the power of Saxenda will be further enhanced. However, some people are concerned about the Saxenda’s craze. Drugs that should be administered to obese patients can be injected into young women in their 20s and 30s who want to become thinner, or they can be misused as they are traded on social media services (SNS) without knowing the mechanism, exact dose, and side effects. Quarterly sales trend of major domestic obesity treatments (Unit: ￦100 million, Source: IQVIA) Prof. Sung Rae Kim (College of Endocrinology, Bucheon St. Mary's Hospital) expressed concern about the Saxenda’s craze in an editorial published in the Korean Journal of Diabetes (J Korean Diabetes 2019; 20: 63-66). Professor Kim said, "In our country, the treatment of obesity is too much for cosmetic purposes regardless of obesity. Some behaviors that require prescription or illegal advertisements without any confirmation or explanation are very worrying, and Saxenda, a GLP-1 derivative, is an injection that has proven long-term efficacy and safety in the treatment of obesity, but it must be administered with the proper diet, exercise and behavioral therapy in the right treatment".
- Company
- COVID-19 closes LS Tower, GSK-Janssen to work from home
- by Jung, Hye-Jin Feb 27, 2020 06:33am
- As an office worker working at LS Yongsan Tower, located in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, was confirmed have been infected with COVID-19, pharmaceutical company offices housed at the tower told their employees to work from home. The authorities of Yongsan-gu announced on Feb. 25 the LS Yongsan Tower would be closed as an office worker working on the 16th floor of the building has been tested positive for COVID-19 infection on Feb. 24. Accordingly, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) Korea, Johnson and Johnson (J&J) Korea, and Janssen Korea, with their offices located in the LS tower, have ordered all employees to work from home as of Feb. 25. Employees of the pharmaceutical companies have received an emergency text in the evening of Feb. 24 informing the confirmed case at LS Tower and urgent closure of the building from Feb. 25. Particularly, Janssen Korea operated Crisis Management Team (CMT) to respond to COVID-19 and announced the details to all employees of Janssen Korea and J&J Korea. Since the outbreak of COVID-19, multinational pharmaceutical companies have been highly recommending employees to work from home. As majority of GSK and J&J employees have been working from home already, the building closure would not critically affect the businesses. A GSK insider commented, “Because the company has recommended option of working from home and flexible working since the COVID-19 outbreak, many of the employees have been working from home for a while now. So, majority of them received the news of the building’s confirmed case and the closure via the text message.” But regardless of the companies’ flexible working scene, desk employees or divisions working around the office would inevitably miss work due to the closure. A location, where an infected individual has stayed, has to be closed down immediately and disinfected for a couple of days to a couple of weeks at most. Janssen Korea official said, “Other than all employees working from home, no other decision has been made. We have been informed of building closure on Feb. 25 only, so we are internally discussing about further responsive instruction.”
- Company
- Next gen Keytruda and Tagrisso skyrocket up the market rank
- by Chon, Seung-Hyun Feb 27, 2020 06:32am
- A next generation anticancer therapy developed by a multinational pharmaceutical company has shuffled through the best-selling pharmaceuticals rank in Korea. Four years since the launch, Keytruda has generated over 100 billion won a year. Tagrisso and Opdivo also showed a steep surge in growth. Pharmaceutical market research firm IQVIA on Feb. 24 said Pfizer’s dyslipidemia treatment Lipitor has topped the Korean pharmaceutical market and made total of 148.9 trillion last year. According to IQVIA data, last year’s sales volume of the medication was increased by 8.5 percent than the previous year, letting Lipitor defend its top ranking for the fourth straight years. Launched 21 years ago in Korea, Lipitor reaffirmed its market leadership regardless of over 100 generics in the same market. 10 best-selling pharmaceuticals in 2019 (unit: KRW 100 million) Source: IQVIA In 2019, next generation anticancer therapies have consolidated their market position. MSD’s Keytruda placed itself on the second place in the market last year with 124.8 billion won, soaring 77.5 percent from the year before. Keytruda is a type of immune checkpoint inhibitor that boosts activity of immune cells by blocking the binding of PD-1 receptor on T-cell. Released in 2015, Keytruda has made over 10 billion won in 2016 and 2017. From August 2017, Keytruda received reimbursement on an indication to treat patients with non small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) as a second-line treatment, which pushed its sales up to 70.3 billion won in 2018 and surpassed the 100 billion won-line in just four years. In last quarter, Keytruda generated 34.6 billion won and narrowed the gap with Lipitor by 5.1 billion won. Keytruda sales trend by quarter (Unit: KRW 100 million) Source: IQVIA AstraZeneca’s Tagrisso also showed a steep climb in growth. Making 79.2 billion won last year, Tagrisso’s volume grew by 33.2 percent from 2018 with 59.4 billion won. Every year its volume skyrocketed, reaching 2.3 billion won and 10.3 billion won in 2016 and 2017, respectively Tagrisso is a second-line treatment for patients with NSCLC, who have developed tolerance after being treated with existing epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI), such as Iressa, Tarceva, and Giotrif. Tagrisso is also labeled as a third generation EGFR TKI as it overcame the tolerance issue. Winning the National Health Insurance reimbursement in December 2017, the medication’s sales volume grew by sevenfold within two years since the listing. The last quarter’s sales volume reached 19.9 billion won. Tagrisso sales trend by quarter (Unit: KRW 100 million) Source: IQVIA Ono Pharmaceutical and Bristol-Myers Squibb’s Opdivo generated 67.0 billion won last year. Hiking up the volume by 16.5 percent, the medication emerged as a dark horse in the anticancer therapy market. Within the general top selling rank, biopharmaceuticals have performed significantly well last year. Roche’s anticancer therapy Avastin leapt 14.1 percent from the previous year and made 119.3 billion won, ranking itself on the third place. Approved by Korean health authority in 2007, Avastin is a targeted therapy that blocks growth and metastasis of tumor by inhibiting angiogenesis of cancer cell, carrying oxygen and nutrition. The treatment is used for patients with metastatic colorectal cancer, metastatic breast cancer and NSCLC. After breaking through the 100 billion won-line for the first time in 2018, its sales have been over 100 billion won for two consecutive years. AbbVie’s autoimmune disease treatment Humira has made 96.2 billion won last year, 12.6 percent more than the previous year. Humira is a tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF alpha) inhibitor preventing expression of TNF alpha. Among all available TNF alpha inhibitors, Humira has the most number of indications of 14, which constantly attracts new users. Gilead’s hepatitis B treatment Viread’s sales volume took a 28.8-percent fall from 116.7 billion won in 2018 to 83.1 billion won last year. The fierce post-off-patent competition with generic seems to have pushed the treatment down the rank.
- Company
- GSK-Pfizer JV launch in Korea put off indefinitely
- by An, Kyung-Jin Feb 26, 2020 06:18pm
- Pfizer Pharmaceutical Korea and GlaxoSmithKline Korea’s (GSK Korea) Consumer Healthcare Joint Venture launch schedule in Korea took a sharp turn unexpectedly. .Pharmaceutical industry source reported Korean offices of Pfizer and GSK have announced indefinite postponement of launching the consumer healthcare division joint venture .As the opening of the joint venture itself was deferred without a word, the Pfizer employees, who have requested to be transferred to GSK are now at a complete loss .Pfizer Pharmaceutical Korea’s labor union insider said, “In the afternoon of Feb .21, the Human Resources team at GSK convened a town hall meeting via video conference call for the Consumer Healthcare Division employees and informed the kick-off date has been pushed .The meeting was finished in three minutes as they explained the reason or the next schedule cannot be disclosed.” The launching of Consumer Healthcare joint venture between Pfizer and GSK Korean offshoots has been in process from 2018, when the two headquarters have signed the merger deal .As GSK owns 68 percent and Pfizer owns the rest of 32 percent share of the joint venture, GSK was supposed to buyout the entire Pfizer’s Consumer Healthcare Division employees .The headquarters’ joint venture has been established since last August and all the employees have been transferred .The Korean offices have been preparing for the same procedure of transferring business, aiming to complete by Feb .24 .As the Working Condition Agreement has been passed on Feb .20 by the employees’ vote, the transferring employees just had to submit the signed agreement .But four days before the launch, the schedule was cleared without a warning .Apparently, 90 percent of the Consumer Healthcare Division employees of Pfizer Pharmaceutical Korea have already requested either to stay at Pfizer, or to get transferred to GSK before the town hall meeting convened on Feb .21 .Regarding the issue, Pfizer Pharmaceutical Korea official commented, “It is true we could not meet the targeted schedule, but we are not at point in time to disclose details of the reason.” GSK Korea has not issued any official statement of the matter .The labor union officials say they are on to find out the reason behind GSK’s change in decision, and they plan to keep a close eye on further progress .Pfizer Pharmaceutical Korea labor union insider commented, “Employees, who have already handed in the transfer request, are now anxiously and blindly waiting for the postponed launch of the joint venture .The labor union also plans to convene a meeting with the headquarters to ask questions about the launch, and to promptly come up with a next step.”
- Company
- Sales activities messed up by COVID-19 crisis
- by Chon, Seung-Hyun Feb 26, 2020 06:29am
- Pharmaceutical companies have already been struggling with earnings this year. Concerned about COVID-19 infection, people are reluctant to visit medical institutions, and their business activities for medical staff are virtually suspended. According to UBIST on the 25th, the total outpatient prescription amount last month was ￦1.25 trillion, down 4.4% from the same period last year. It was 4.6% lower than last month. The January prescription amount is unusual compared to the annual increase of more than 5%. Last year's prescriptions increased 8.5% compared to January 2018. In January 2018, prescriptions were up 18.2% year-on-year. In 2016 and January 2017, prescription amounts increased 5.4% and 7.6%, respectively. Monthly outpatient prescription amount (Unit: ￦100 million, Source: UBIST) Decrease in prescriptions in this January, the decrease in the number of business days due to the Lunar New Year holiday, which came earlier than usual, may have had some effect. However, the analysis predominates that COVID-19 may have been the biggest factor in reducing prescriptions. After the first COVID-19 confirmed in Korea last 20th, the alert for new infectious diseases has increased in earnest. Since then, patients have been reluctant to visit medical institutions. Indeed, prescriptions amount for major drugs sold heavily through outpatient prescriptions declined. Pfizer's Lipitor, ranked No.1 in prescriptions, fell 10.6% YoY to ￦15.5 billion. Daewoong Bio's brain function improver 'Gliatami' decreased 6.1%. Over the past month, prescriptions for large-sized medicines, such as Twynsta, Plavix, Crestor, Viread, Exforge and Amosartan showed a steady decline compared to the previous year. The outpatient prescription amount of AstraZeneca's anti-cancer drug Tagriso increased by 45.7% over the past month. Presumably, this is because the proportion of patients who were taken at home while avoiding hospitalization increased. Pharmaceutical companies are worried that earnings will be sluggish this month. The situation has worsened since the sudden increase in COVID-19 confirmers since the 19th. COVID-19 spread rapidly in Daegu, Gyeongbuk, and more than 900 confirmed as of 25th. On the 23rd, the government upgraded the COVID-19 crisis alert to the highest level of 'serious'. The government issued a serious step only 11 years after the swine flu crisis in 2009. Patients with mild illnesses, except those with severe or chronic illnesses, are reluctant to visit medical institutions because they are concerned about infection with COVID-19. The drop in the number of patients leads to a decline in drug sales. Pharmaceutical companies' sales activities are actually “open without any business”. At the end of last month, telecommuting of sales staff, which was adopted by multinational pharmaceutical companies, is spreading. Hanmi Pharm, LG Chem, GC Pharma, CJ Healthcare, Dong-A ST, and Dong-wha Pharm have banned sales people from visiting medical institutions. One medical institution restricted access to pharmaceutical salespersons. This is because sales people may be exposed to the risk of infection with COVID-19 due to frequent visits to medical institutions. There are also concerns that salespeople can be a powerful carrier if they are infected with COVID-19. If there are confirmed patients among pharmaceutical salespeople, the company can not avoid blaming for spreading COVID-19. While allowing salespersons to visit medical institutions, criticism may have been made that they exposed the risk of infection to COVID-19 and caused damage to medical institutions. The Korean Medical Practitioners Association also sent an official letter to the Korea Pharmaceutical and Bio-Pharma Manufacturers Association on the 20th requesting that sales representatives refrain from visiting. Promotional events such as product briefings are also being canceled. An official of a pharmaceutical company said, “We are forced to cancel a pre-scheduled meeting or briefing session for physicians and pharmacists because of concerns about the infection of COVID-19”. In fact, face-to-face sales activities have ceased. Some pharmaceutical companies expect to benefit from masks and some over-the-counter drugs with COVID-19, but most of them are concerned about sales impact because their major businesses are Prescription drugs. Disruption of business activities is inevitable for domestic pharmaceutical companies that are highly dependent on generics. Sales of generic drugs with the same product power depend on their sales force. Innovative new drugs with no alternative drugs or new drugs without generics are unlikely to hurt sales. For pharmaceutical companies, they suffered from poor performance in the fourth quarter of last year due to an impurity issue. The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety banned the sale of all anti-ulcer drug Ranitidine at the end of last September. The market exit was virtually determined for the detection of carcinogen N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA) excess. Pharmaceutical companies with ranitidine-based products suffered significant losses from sales bans, recalls, and disposals. GC Pharm, Jeil Pharm, JW Pharma, and Ildong Pharmaceutical recorded losses in the fourth quarter of last year. An official of a pharmaceutical company said, “The spread of COVID-19 has effectively stopped sales activities, and it is inevitable that there will be a considerable impact on performance, and in order to minimize prescription drug sales gap, there is a lot of concern in preparing effective marketing strategies in addition to traditional sales activities”.
