Sales of Expectants & antibiotic have increased

The reversal of COVID-19

Outpatient prescription market in the first quarter↑6.5% year-on-year

Over the past two years since the spread of COVID-19, the number of cold and flu patients has decreased, and sales in the prescription market have decreased

Since the end of last year, the number of confirmed cases has increased rapidly and prescriptions have increased as a symptom relief treatment

Sales in the outpatient prescription market have been rising sharply this year.

 

Sales in the prescription market have been rising as the number of COVID-19 confirmed cases has soared since late last year.

 

The Expectant and antibiotic prescription market, which is used for colds and infectious disease diseases, recovered to the level before the outbreak of COVID-19 as it emerged from the sluggishness of the past two years.

 

According to UBIST, a pharmaceutical research institute, on the 20th, the amount of outpatient prescriptions for medicines in the first quarter was 4.1248 trillion won, up 6.5% from the same period last year.

 

This is the second time after 4.22 trillion won in the fourth quarter of last year.

 

The outpatient prescription market showed a pattern of slowing growth after the spread of COVID-19.

 

The prescription amount in 2019 was 15.2318 trillion won, up 8.2% from the previous year, but the growth rate in 2020 and last year was only 2.7% and 3.0%, respectively.

 

In the first quarter of last year, the prescription amount increased 2.0% from the previous year to 3.8746 trillion won, but this year is the first time since the third quarter of 2019 that the quarterly prescription growth rate exceeded 6% compared to the same period last year.

 

In more than two years, the growth before the outbreak of COVID-19 has recovered.

 

The slowdown in the prescription market growth over the past two years is pointed out as the direct cause of COVID-19.

 

After the spread of COVID-19, the market for related treatments also shrank significantly as the number of patients with infectious diseases such as flu and colds plunged due to strengthening personal hygiene management such as washing hands and wearing masks.

 

This year, if there are many COVID-19 confirmed cases, hundreds of thousands of people poured out a day, and the demand for COVID-19 symptom-relieving treatments such as cold medicine surged.

 

The government also encouraged pharmaceutical companies to increase production as the supply of cold medicines and anti-inflammatory analgesics failed to keep up with demand.

 

In the first quarter, the amount of outpatient prescriptions for expectorants was 53.3 billion won, up 116.6% from 24.6 billion won during the same period last year.

 

It is the first time in more than two years that the quarterly prescription performance of expectorants has exceeded 50 billion won since the fourth quarter of 2019 Prescription market of expectorants has been on the decline since recording KRW 54.5 billion in the fourth quarter of 2019.

 

In the second quarter of 2020, the amount of prescription for expectorants was 26.5 billion won, down 43.8% from the previous year, and remained at 20 billion won for six consecutive quarters until the third quarter of last year.

 

After the spread of COVID-19, the prescription market was directly hit by a sharp drop in cold patients.

 

However, in the fourth quarter of last year, the prescription amount of expectorants began to rebound to 33.8 billion won, and this year, the market size recovered to the level before the spread of COVID-19.

 

The amount of prescriptions for expectants in the first quarter was 33.2 billion won, up 164.4% from a year-on- Expectants decreased from 37.1 billion won in prescriptions in the fourth quarter of 2019 to 14.3 billion won in the second quarter of 2020, when COVID-19 began to spread in earnest.

 

The amount of outpatient prescriptions for oral cephalosporin drugs in the first quarter was 65.1 billion won, up 49.6% from the previous year.

 

Cephalosporin drugs, also called "Cepha antibiotics," are antibiotics widely used for pneumonia, sore throat, tonsillitis, and bronchitis.

 

The amount of oral cephalosporin prescription in the first quarter is the largest since it recorded 75.6 billion won in the fourth quarter of 2019.

 

Sales of Cephalosporin drugs have also shrunk significantly over the past two years due to a sharp drop in flu or cold patients due to the prolonged COVID-19.

 

In recent years, it has recovered to the level of previous years due to a surge in the number of COVID-19 confirmed patients.

 

In the case of oral PCN preparations, it recorded 52.7 billion won in the fourth quarter of 2019, but it was reduced by more than half to 20 billion won from the second quarter of 2020 to the third quarter of last year.

 

It recorded 34.3 billion won in the fourth quarter of last year and showed a higher increase in recent years.