↑sales of chronic disease drugs & ↓sales of antibiotics

Antibiotics and expectorant sales decline due to decrease in cold patients, etc.

Last year, prescription sales such as hyperlipidemia and hypertension rose

Continued growth despite COVID-19 outbreak

Despite COVID-19 epidemic, the chronic disease treatment market continued to grow.

 

The market for antibiotics and expectorants declined significantly due to the decrease in cold patients due to strengthening hygiene management.

 

According to UBIST, a drug research institute on the 19th, the prescription amount of statin drugs used to treat dyslipidemia last year was ₩1 trillion, an increase of 3.4% from the previous year.

 

The prescription amount in 2019 was ₩976.5 billion won, an increase of 2.9% from the previous year, but the growth rate was higher last year.

 

Statin sales increase every year.

 

In 2017 and 2018, prescriptions increased 4.1% and 6.1% respectively from the previous year.

 

Last year, it surpassed ₩1 trillion for the first time, continuing the growth trend, even though external activities of people were greatly reduced due to the aftermath of COVID-19.

 

In the major chronic disease treatment prescription market, which forms a large market, there was little impact on COVID-19.

 

The combination of calcium channel blocker (CCB) and angiotensin II receptor blocker (ARB), which are the most commonly used treatments for hypertension, recorded ₩811.3 billion in prescriptions last year, up 10.1% from the previous year.

 

In 2019, it recorded an even greater growth rate than the prescription price growth rate of 6.9%.

 

ARB+CCB combination drug prescription performance also increased 11.8% and 13.2% in 2017 and 2018 compared to the previous year, respectively.

 

Last year, even in COVID-19 situation throughout the year, it continued high growth.

 

The Lipid-regulating drugs, which have recently been increasing in demand, remained strong.

 

Last year, the prescription size of the lipid-regulator combination drug was ₩633.5 billion, an increase of 21.0% from the previous year.

 

The prescription market for lipid-regulating drugs increased by 10.2% and 15.1%, respectively, compared to the previous year in 2018 and 2019, but last year the growth trend was even steeper.

 

In recent years, Rosuvastatin or Atorvastatin combined with Ezetimibe has continued to rise as preference for drugs has increased.

 

The sales for the combination of DPP-4·Metformin, which is used as an ARB single drug or diabetes treatment, also rose.

 

Last year, the market size of ARB single drug was ₩401.2 billion, an increase of 3.9% from the previous year, and DPP-4·Metformin combination drug increased 1.2%.

 

In the industry, the use of medicines continues to increase due to the increase in the elderly population and the number of chronic diseases, so it is diagnosed that the entire industry will not contract due to short-term issues such as infectious diseases.

 

Unlike the tourism and cultural industries, which fell into extreme crises after COVID-19 outbreak, the pharmaceutical industry is unlikely to lead to a sudden downturn because it is affected by the demands of patients rather than the external environment.

 

The entire prescription market last year maintained a growth trend, while the chronic disease treatment market, which has a large prescription, was not affected by COVID-19.

 

Last year, the total outpatient prescription amount was ₩14.85 trillion, up 0.2% from the previous year.

 

Compared to the previous year, the growth trend has slowed somewhat, but it is evaluated that it has made good progress considering the big bad news of COVID-19.

 

The slowdown in the growth of the entire prescription market can be found in the decline in sales of infectious diseases treatments such as antibiotics and expectorants.

 

The prescription performance of oral Cephalosporins last year was ₩209.9 billion, down 20.6% from 2018.

 

For oral Cephalosporins, the prescription amount in 2019 fell 1.5% from the previous year, but last year the decline has expanded significantly.

 

Sales of oral Penicillin recorded ₩116.9 billion last year, down 34.9% from the previous year.

 

In 2019, it fell 4.5% from the previous year, but last year, the total prescription size decreased by about a third.

 

The size of prescriptions for expectorant drugs, which are widely used in pediatric patients, has also decreased significantly.

 

Last year, the prescription for expectorant drugs was ₩124.8 billion, a 29.6% decrease from the previous year.

 

The slowdown in the prescription market for antibiotics and expectorants is evaluated to be closely related to the decline in the number of patients.

 

It is analyzed that after the spread of COVID-19, external activities contracted and personal hygiene management such as hand washing and wearing of masks was strengthened, leading to a decline in the incidence of infectious diseases such as colds.