Rosuzet soars despite COVID-19, Lipitor tops market again

Analysis on 2020 Q3 cumulative outpatient performance

On Oct.

 

23, a pharmaceutical market research firm UBIST reported a dyslipidemia treatment Lipitor defended its top spot again in the outpatient prescription market this third quarter reaching a cumulative prescription volume of 140.1 billion won.

 

Compared to the third quarter last year at 143.1 billion won, the figure dipped 2 percent, but its prescription volume doubled Daewoong Bio’s Gliatamin’s.

 

In 1999, Pfizer Pharmaceutical Korea launched a hyperlipidemia treatment Lipitor (atorvastatin) in the South Korean market.

 

After its patent expired, about 130 generics were released but it has never fell below second place in the prescription drug market for over a decade.

 

Daewoong Bio’s cognitive function enhancing choline alfoscerate, Gliatamin generated a cumulative prescription volume of 73.8 billion won and stayed at the second spot.

 

Compared to the previous year at 70.2 billion won, the prescription volume grew by 5.1 percent.

 

During the same time, another competitor Chog Kun Dang Gliatirin marked 63.3 billion won this third quarter and leapt by 12.4 percent.

 

Regardless of the controversy on the choline alfoscerate efficacy and the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), the two drugs were able to maintain their prescription volume.

 

2020 Q3 cumulative outpatient performance rank (Unit: KRW 1 million) Source: UBIST

Among the top products in the prescription drug market, Hanmi Pharmaceutical’s Rosuzet had the highest growth.

 

For nine months, Rosuzet generated f 72.8 billion won and had a 24.3-percent surge compared to last year.

 

Basically, the average monthly volume was over 8 billion won.

 

Launched in the Korean market in late 2015, Rosuzet is a dyslipidemia treatment consisting of rosuvastatin and ezetimibe.

 

Hanmi Pharmaceutical licensed in the use of ezetimibe from the patent owner MSD and allowed itself to take the generic market faster than other competitors.

 

While the competition among rosuvastatin plus ezetimibe combination drug market is intensifying day by day, Rosuzet has been on the top of the charts with a significant gap from the competitors.

 

Despite the difficulties in the sales and marketing activity amid COVID-19, Rosuzet’s quarterly prescription volume showed over 20 percent growth every quarter and marked a record high prescription volume.

 

The drug kept a steady prescription volume in the second and third quarters, when the confirmed cases of COVID-19 exploded.

 

The industry experts predict the drug’s annual prescription volume could break through the 100 billion won line.

 

Meanwhile, the off-patent drugs had contrasting results.

 

Boehringer Ingelheim’s hypertension combination drug Twynsta had prescription volume of 70.6 billion won and grew by 2.0 percent from last year same time, but Sanofi’s anticoagulant Plavix had a 1.2-percent dip.

 

AstraZeneca’s dyslipidemia treatment Crestor also stepped down by 5.5 percent.

 

But the market experts claim the fluctuating growth is not too concerning as the government has ordered stricter social distancing measures from last August and the country’s general economy was stagnant.

 

AstraZeneca’s anticancer treatment Tagrisso (osimertinib) placed itself on the sixth place after climbing up 4.8 percent from last year and generated 65.9 billion won.

 

The anticancer treatment is prescribed to non-small cell lung cancer patients who have developed tolerance on epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs), such as Iressa (gefitinib), Tarceva (erlotinib) and Giotrif (afatinib).

 

Its prescription volume has been skyrocketing since its National Health Insurance (NHI) listing green lit in December 2017.

 

Although its price is still high at 120,000 won with the reimbursement, the convenient oral drug is the only anticancer treatment found among the top prescribed drugs for outpatients.

 

A hepatitis B treatment Viread (tenofovir disoproxil fumarate) that used to top the prescription drug market took a steep 25.9-percet fall in just within a year, raising 64.9 billion won.

 

In the same year, the prescription volume of Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) Pharmaceutical Korea’s hepatitis B treatment Baraclude (entecavir) was brought down by 10.8 percent from 39 billion won to 34.8 billion won.