Sales of choline alfoscerate rise despite controversy

Unwavering rise of CA products despite its efficacy and market withdrawals due to reevaluations

Q3 outpatient prescription of choline alfoscerate record ₩127.3 billion… is on the rise for 3 consecutive quarters

The market is fluctuating due to withdrawal of products that gave up reevaluations

Prime·Alico·Dongkoo·HLB made great advances

Sales of brain function enhancer ‘choline alfoscerate’ are on the rise in the prescription drug market.

 

The drug recorded growth for 3 consecutive quarters despite controversy over its efficacy, reduced scope of reimbursement, and the restitution of insurance benefits.

 

Also, with many CA products withdrawing from the market after giving up clinical re-evaluations, the market dominion has fluctuated.

 

According to the market research institution on the 25th, the outpatient prescriptions in Q3 recorded ₩127.3 billion.

 

This was a 5.4% decrease YOY, however, also a 3-quarter consecutive rise from the ₩116.7 billion in Q4 last year.

 

The cumulative prescription of choline alfoscerate products was ₩368.7 billion by Q3 this year, which was a 2.3% increase from the previous year.

 

Choline alfoscerate is currently approved for the following three indications: ▲ Secondary symptom caused by cerebrovascular defects or degenerative brain-organic psychiatric syndrome by cerebrovascular deficiency; ▲ Emotional and behavioral change; and▲ Senile pseudo depression.’

Despite the recent flood of issues from clinical reevaluations, reduced scope of reimbursement, and negotiations for restitution of insurance benefits, sales of choline alfoscerate have stayed strong in the prescription market.

 

The amount of choline alfoscerate prescriptions in Q3 nearly doubled from Q3 2017, 4 years ago.

 

The safety and efficacy of choline alfoscerate are currently on the testbed, and the governments’ pressure to reduce the drug's insurance benefits is still ongoing.

 

Choline alfoscerate became the first subject of the unprecedented restitution negotiations.

 

At the end of last year, the Ministry of Health and Welfare ordered the National Health Insurance Service to sign an insurance benefits agreement ‘to return the prescription amount if the clinical trial fails.’ 8 months after the negotiation order, the companies have comprehensively agreed on the restitution rate of 20%.

 

What is noteworthy is that the overall market size showed growth even though some of the choline alfoscerate products withdrew from the market after giving up re-evaluations.

 

The MFDS had first ordered clinical re-evaluations to 134 companies, and 57, less than half, of the companies received approval for their clinical reevaluations.

 

In other words, 77 companies have given up reevaluations and decided to withdraw from the market.

 

Some of the companies have officially withdrawn from the market by voluntarily withdrawing their licenses.

 

The interpretation is that these products were replaced by other choline alfoscerate products.

 

The market dominion for each product had also been fluctuating.

 

Some products showed a sudden surge in sales by absorbing prescriptions of products that withdrew from the market.

 

Sales from market leaders, Daewoong Bio and Chong Kun Dang, recorded sales at a similar level to previous years.

 

Sales of Daewoong Bio’s Gliatamine fell 1.6% from the previous year to record ₩28.1 billion in Q3, and Chong Kun Dang’s Gliatilin recorded ₩23.4 billion, a 3.3% decrease from Q3 of the previous year.

 

Mid-sized pharmaceutical companies including Korea Prime Pharm, Hutecs Korea Pharmaceutical, Dongkoo&Pharma, HLB Pharma showed high growth.