17 drugs receive essential medicine designations

including the anticancer drug cisplatin

Includes atopic dermatitis drug dupilumab, pediatric leukemia drug clofarabine, and more

Seventeen medicines that are essential for pediatric patients, cancer patients, and others, but require government support due to unstable supply, have been newly designated as national essential medicines.

 

The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS, Yu-Kyung Oh) announced on the 29th that it held a meeting on the stable supply of national essential medicines and newly designated 17 items (ingredients and formulations) as national essential medicines.

 

Newly designated national essential medicines include cisplatin injection, an anti-cancer drug used for testicular and bladder cancer; clofarabine injection, a treatment for pediatric leukemia; and citric acid-sodium citrate-glucose mixtures, which prevents blood from clotting in blood donations.

 

Newly designated national essential medicines

Formoterol dry syrup, a cold medicine used to relieve bronchitis symptoms, whose designation has been discussed since last year at the 'Public-Private Consultative Committee that Responds to the Unstable Supply and Demand of Drugs' jointly run by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety and the Ministry of Health and Welfare, was also newly designated as a national essential medicine.

 

This new designation brings the total number of National Essential Medicines to 473, an increase of 17 from 456.

 

The National Council for Stable Supply of Essential Medicines, which discusses issues related to the stable supply of medicines at the pan-governmental level, has been establishing comprehensive measures for the stable supply of essential drugs and discussing important matters necessary for the operation of the system, such as the designation or removal of new essential drugs.

 

At this meeting, they shared information on the stable supply system of national essential medicine and discussed ways to collaborate between organizations to operate the national essential medicine system more efficiently.

 

The MFDS said it will continue to actively cooperate with related ministries and medical sites to ensure a stable supply of nationally essential drugs, and will do its best to provide institutional and administrative support to ensure the timely and stable supply of drugs essential for patient treatment.

 

"The National Essential Medicine Designation System, which designates and supports medicines that require stable supply, is essential for securing national health security," said MFDS deputy minister           Yumi Kim, who chairs the council.

 

"We will work together to create an environment where people can use medicines with peace of mind without supply insecurity."