Power of K-combos...Rosuzet leads outpatient Rx drug market

Q2 outpatient prescriptions...Rosuzet overtakes the lead for the first time in Korea

Rosuzet’s prescriptions in 1H amount to KRW 85.3 billion...reserves a seat in the KRW 100 billion sales club for 4 consecutive years

Homegrown new drug K-cab’s sales in Q2 record KRW 38.5 billion... continues on its high march

Hanmi Pharmaceutical’s new combination drug Rosuzet is ruling the outpatient prescription market in Korea.

 

Rosuzet became the first domestically developed drug to lead quarterly outpatient prescriptions sales.

 

Sales of HK Inno.N’s new drug ‘K-cab’ also continued to grow, taking part in the lead owned by domestically developed drugs in the outpatient prescription market.

 

According to the market research institution UBIST, Hanmi Pharmaceutical’s Rosuzet recorded the most in outpatient prescriptions in Q2 with KRW 43.8 billion.

 

Its sales rose 19.5% YoY and overtook the lead in quarterly prescriptions for the first time.

 

Viatris’s Lipitor, which had held the lead until Q1 last year, was overtaken for the first time.

 

By monthly prescriptions, Lipitor’s monthly prescriptions had exceeded Rosuzet’s by KRW 300 million until April.

 

At the time, Lipitor’s posted sales of KRW 14.1 billion and Rosuzet KRW 13.8 billion.

 

However, Rosuzet beat Lipitor (KRW 12.6 billion) by KRW 2.2 billion, posting KRW 14.8 billion in sales from May.

 

Rosuzet maintained a KRW 2.1 billion sales gap with Lipitor with prescription sales of KRW 15.2 billion in June.

 

Rosuzet is the first drug developed by a domestic pharmaceutical company to lead quarterly prescriptions in Korea.

 

Rosuzet, which was released at the end of 2015, is a combination drug for hyperlipidemia that contains rosuvastatin and ezetimibe.

 

Rosuzet has been continuing rapid growth in the market benefitting from its preoccupation of the market and the rising popularity of the statin and ezetimibe combination.

 

Rosuzet’s prescription sales rose twofold in 3 years from KRW 24.9 billion in Q2 2020, continuing strong growth.

 

Rosuzet’s sales exceeded KRW 100 billion for 3 consecutive years from 2020 and reserved the ‘KRW 100 billion sales club’ for the 4th consecutive year by making KRW 85.3 billion in 1H this year.

 

Until this year, Lipitor had never lost its lead.

 

Lipitor maintained its lead until Q1 this year, posting sales of KRW 49.2 billion, which is KRW 7.7 billion more than the second-runner Rosuzet.

 

However, in Q2 this year, prescriptions had dropped 25.1% YoY and fell to 4th place.

 

In 1H, Lipitor recorded KRW 87 billion in cumulative outpatient prescription sales, slightly ahead of Rosuzet (KRW 85.3 billion).

 

Lipitor, which was introduced to the domestic market in 1999, is an atorvastatin-based dyslipidemia treatment.

 

Although it continued to exert a strong influence in the prescription drug market despite the entry of its generics after patent expiry, its growth slowed down recently.

 

HK Inno.N’s new drug K-cab has also continued to make strong sales.

 

K-cab posted sales of KRW 38.5 billion in Q2, up 19.9% YoY and ranking 3rd in outpatient prescriptions.

 

K-cab, which was released in March 2019, is a new -CAB (potassium-competitive acid blocker) class drug for gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD).

 

It has a new mechanism of action that inhibits gastric acid secretion by competitively binding to the proton pump and potassium ion located in the final stage of acid secretion.

 

K-cab exceeded KRW 100 billion in prescriptions in its 3rd year of release in 2021 and recorded sales in the KRW 100 billion range for 2 consecutive years.

 

K-cab made prescriptions of KRW 74.1 billion in the 1H this year, also heralding a record that exceeds KRW 100 billion won for three consecutive years.

 

In addition to being approved for the treatment of erosive and non-erosive GERD, then gastric ulcer, K-cab acquired additional indications as an antibiotic combination therapy for the eradication of Helicobacter pylori in patients with peptic ulcer and/or chronic atrophic gastritis, and as maintenance therapy after treatment of GERD.

 

Initially, the drug was granted reimbursement for the GERD and gastric ulcer indication among the 5, and was additionally granted reimbursement for the other indications.

 

Therefore, K-cab's sales growth is expected to continue to increase further.

 

Among domestically developed new drugs, Daewoong Bio’s brain function enhancer Gliatamin’s prescriptions rose 26.0% YoY in Q2 to record KRW 38.5 billion and rank 2nd in outpatient presciptions.

 

Gliatamin’s increased its influence in the prescription market despite difficulties faced due to narrowed reimbursement standards, controversy over its efficacy, and the government's order to initiate negotiations to redeem the reimbursed claims amount.

 

Chong Kun Dang Gliatirin, which also contains choline alfoscerate, also continued its high march in Q2, up 14.5% YoY and posting KRW 27.8 billion in prescription sales .

 

Daiichi Sankyo’s anticoagulant Lixiana also sold KRW 25.9 billion in Q2 this year, an 8.6% increase YoY, and ranked among the top.

 

Lixiana’s sales in 1H were KRW 52.4 billion and are expected to exceed KRW 100 billion for the first time in annual prescription sales this year.