Prescription performance has been recovering since June

The prescription amount rose by 12% in June

Prescription amount in the first half ↓ 0.02%

The overall outpatient prescription growth in the first half of this year has slowed.

 

It remained at the same level as last year in the aftermath of COVID-19.

 

However, prescription performance has been recovering since June, unlike April and May.

 

As the fear of COVID-19 spread in the first quarter, patients received prescriptions all at once and total prescription volume decreased in April and May, but it is analyzed that the prescription market has also been revitalized after the return to normal social activities.

 

According to UBIST on the 15th, the total outpatient prescription amount in the first half of last year was ₩7.35 trillion, a 0.02% decrease from the previous year.

 

Although the prescription performance has been growing every year, it has been slowing down this year.

 

Rx amount & increase/decrease rate in the first half of each year (Unit: ₩100 million, %, Source: UBIST)

The prescription amount in the first half of last year rose 6.9% from the previous year.

 

In the first half of 2017 and the first half of 2018, the prescription amount increased by 5.6% and 8.1%, respectively.

 

The prescription amount in the first quarter was ₩3,703 billion, an increase of 2.7% from the previous year.

 

However, the prescription amount in the second quarter decreased by 2.7% to ₩3,647.4 billion.

 

In the first and second quarters of 2019, the outpatient prescription prices rose 5.5% and 8.3%, respectively, compared to the previous year, but the prescription market was sluggish in the second quarter of this year.

 

It is analyzed that the prescription market in 2Q was slow in the aftermath of COVID-19.

 

It is analyzed that a large number of prescription gaps occurred in the second quarter as patients who were reluctant to visit medical institutions, especially those with chronic diseases, were prescribed large quantities of medicines at a time.

 

It has been reported that the number of patients receiving prescriptions for 3 to 6 months in advance increased significantly when the number of COVID-19 confirmed patients increased.

 

In addition, it is estimated that the number of visits to hospitals may have decreased as the frequency of disease occurrence among infants and children has decreased due to factors such as postponement of school, social distance, and strengthening of personal prevention of epidemics.

 

Quarterly Rx amount trend (Unit: ₩100 million, Source: UBIST)

The size of the prescription market in January was ₩1.25 trillion, a 4.4% decrease from the same period last year.

 

However, the prescription amount in February increased by 13.0% to ₩1.21 trillion.

 

As New Year holidays were pulled to January earlier than the previous year, the increase/decrease rate of the prescription amount in January and February was analyzed to vary.

 

In March, the total prescription amount increased to ₩1.23 trillion, up 1.4% from the previous year, and the prescription market in the first quarter remained stable despite the spread of COVID-19.

 

In the second quarter, the outpatient prescription amount in April was ₩1.19 trillion, a 8.7% decrease from the same period last year.

 

In April 2018 and April 2019, the prescription amount increased 8.3% and 13.1%, respectively, compared to the same period last year, but this year it has declined.

 

In May, the total outpatient prescription amount was ₩1.16 trillion, a decrease of 9.4% from the previous year.

 

It fell 1.8% from April, the lowest this year.

 

Monthly outpatient Rx amount trend (Unit: ₩100 million, Source: UBIST)

It is interesting to note that the prescription market has recovered rapidly since June.

 

The prescription scale last month was ₩1.26 trillion, 11.7% higher than last June.

 

Prescriptions in June 2018 and 2019 rose 5.0% and 3.0%, respectively, from the previous year.

 

It was significantly higher than the previous year despite COVID-19 outbreak.

 

the prescription drug market in April and May was temporarily sluggish due to the fear of COVID-19 in the first quarter, and it seems to have regained growth from June.

 

In particular, when the number of COVID-19 confirmed patients surged mainly in Daegu & Gyeongbuk, the sales activities of pharmaceutical companies also contracted significantly.

 

Since the first COVID-19 confirmed patient in Korea on January 20, pharmaceutical companies have refrained from visiting salesmen to medical institutions.

 

Since the middle of February, the number of COVID-19 patients has increased rapidly, and most of the pharmaceutical companies' salespeople have entered telecommuting.

 

A significant number of patients received long-term prescriptions at one time and it is analyzed that they caused a prescription gap in April and May.

 

The prescription drug market seems to have recovered since the spread of COVID-19 patients began to stabilize in April and social distance campaign had shifted to distancing in daily life.

 

The size of prescription amount in the market is also estimated to have stabilized since June.

 

In the industry, it is continually increasing due to the increase of the elderly and chronic patients.

 

It is said that the entire industry will not contract due to short-term issues such as infectious diseases.

 

According to the analysis, unlike the tourism and cultural industries, it is difficult to lead to a sudden recession because the pharmaceutical industry is affected by patient demand rather than the external environment.