Hanmi leads the outpatient prescription market in Q1 2022

Daewon reaps surprise benefits from COVID-19

Q1 Pharma company rankings show Hanmi will hold its lead in the market for 5 consecutive years with its new combination drug

15 of the 20 top-ranking pharmaceutical companies have expanded prescriptions compared to Q1 of the previous year

Daewon Pharmaceuticals’ sales surge 26% with the increase in demand for COVID-19 symptom relief medications

Hanmi Pharmaceutical’s performance stood out in the outpatient prescription market with its solidified lead heralded by the introduction of its new combination drug.

 

Daewon Pharmaceutical’s prescription volume has also soared vertically due to the boom in anti-inflammatory and cold medicines following a surge in the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases.

 

Other major pharmaceutical companies also showed an increase in sales performance due to an increase in demand for COVID-19 symptom relief medications According to the pharmaceutical research institution UBIST on the 18th, Hanmi took the sole lead among pharmaceutical companies in Korea and abroad in outpatient prescriptions with ₩194.3 billion in Q1 this year.

 

This is an 11.8% growth from the ₩173.89 billion in Q1 last year, and a ₩45.5 billion difference from the runner-up Chong Kun Dang.

 

Also, this is an ₩80 billion difference with the No.3 Daewoong Pharmaceutical.

 

Hanmi Pharmaceutical took this lead in the prescription drug market using its new combination drug.

 

Prescriptions of Hanmi’s combination drug for hyperlipidemia, Rosuzet, increased 13.1% from Q1 of the previous year to record ₩32.7 billion.

 

Rosuzet is a combination of ezetimibe and rosuvastatin that was released at the end of 2015.

 

Rosuzet has made rapid growth every year since recording ₩24.3 billion in sales in 2016.

 

Rosuzet has recorded a ₩10 billion range of prescriptions for 10 consecutive months since June last year.

 

Hanmi’s leading new combination drug, the Amosartan family, has also shown continued growth.

 

Hanmi has been selling its amlopidine and losartan combination Amosartan as well as Amosartan Plus, Amosartan Q, and Amosartan XQ.

 

Amosartan Plus is a combination of three drugs, amlodipine, losartan, and chlorthalidone.

 

Amosartan Q is a combination of Amosartan and the hyperlipidemia treatment rosuvastatin.

 

Amosartan XQ is a combination of Amosartan, rosuvastatin, and ezetimibe that was released last year.

 

Prescription sales of Amosartan, Amosartan Plus, Amosartan Q, and Amosartan XQ have increased 5.8% from the previous year to record ₩31.9 billion.

 

Prescription performance of Amosartan rose 2.4% from the previous year to ₩21 billion, and Amosartan Plus rose 3.8% to ₩7 billion.

 

Amosartan Q, Amosartan XQ also recorded ₩2.8 billion and ₩1.1 billion each.

 

Sales of the antiulcer drug Esomezol rose 12.0% to ₩13.5 billion in Q1 this year.

 

Prescription of Hanmi’s drugs that were used to relieve COVID-19 symptoms such as Clari, Suspen 8 hours, and Maxibupen has also increased greatly.

 

Chong Kun Dang has ranked No.2 with prescriptions of ₩148.8 billion in Q1.

 

However, its gap with the No.1 in the ranks had widened with its performance reduced by 4.7%.

 

Daewoong Pharmaceutical has ranked No.3 with prescriptions of ₩114.1 billion, which was a 6.5% increase from the previous year.

 

Prescriptions at major pharmaceutical companies have generally increased from Q1 last year.

 

15 of the 20 top companies have shown growth in prescriptions compared to the same period last year.

 

In particular, Daewon Pharmaceutical's growth stood out among the companies.

 

Daewon Pharmaceutical's outpatient prescription sales in the first quarter amounted to ₩83.8 billion, up 25.5% from the previous year.

 

It surpassed the ₩82.8 billion recorded in Q4 2019 for the first time in 9 quarters and made a new record.

 

The increased demand for anti-inflammatory and cold drugs due to the recent surge in the number of confirmed COVID-19 patients has led to this upward trend in prescriptions for Daewon Pharmaceutical.

 

The anti-inflammatory analgesic Pelubi’s sales grew 22.0% from the previous year to record ₩9.5 billion in Q1.

 

This is the largest record made since its release in 2007.

 

Daewon’s original new drug Pelubi is a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory analgesic used for osteoarthritis and back pain.

 

The upsurge in the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases has increased the demand for anti-inflammatory analgesics, increasing prescriptions of Pelubi as well.

 

Prescriptions of Daewon’s cold medicine Codaewon have also increased greatly.

 

Prescriptions of Codaewon S in Q1 this year were ₩6.4 billion, a 253.6% increase from the ₩1.8 billion recorded last year.

 

Codaewon Forte’s sales have also increased twofold from the ₩2.9 billion last year to ₩5.6 billion in Q1 this year.

 

Codaewon S is used to improve signs and symptoms of acute bronchitis and Codaewon Forte is indicated for coughs and sputum.

 

Celltrion Pharm, Daewoong Bio, Hutecs, Boryung, and United Pharma Korea’s prescriptions have increased by over 10% in Q1 compared to the same period of the previous year.

 

The surge in demand for COVID-19 symptom relief drugs such as cold drugs and anti-inflammatory analgesics are analyzed to have led to the improvement in prescription performance.

 

On the other hand, the prescription volume of Chong Kun Dang, Viatris, Dong-A ST, Jeil Pharm, and Il Dong Pharmaceutical had decreased from the previous year.