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- 2026-05-08 01:10:31
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- Generics for Visanne grew significantly in Bayer's opening
- by Whang, byung-woo Mar 17, 2023 05:46am
- As the generic market for Visanne, Bayer's endometriosis treatment, is growing rapidly, the status of the original drug is being threatened. According to the pharmaceutical industry, as the number of patients with endometriosis increased significantly, the treatment market was also found to be growing significantly. Looking at the health insurance treatment status of 'endometriosis (N80)' from 2016 to 2020 announced by the NHIS, the number of endometriosis patients increased by 48.2% from 104,689 in 2016 to 155,183 in 2020. Due to this influence, medical expenses also increased by 79.6% from 56.6 billion won in 2016 to 101.6 billion won in 2020, and outpatient medical expenses surged 147.7% from 16.4 billion won to 40.6 billion won. Visanne's sales continued to rise during the same period as the number of patients increased. According to UBIST, a drug research institute, Visanne's sales recorded a growth of ▲8.6 billion won in 2017 and ▲10.5 billion won in 2018. Afterward, sales decreased to 7.6 billion won in 2019 when insurance drug prices decreased (53,980 won → 37,786 won), but sales increased again to 7.8 billion won in 2020, 9.5 billion won in 2021, and 9.9 billion won in 2022. Considering the fact that there was another drug price cut to 28,906 won in 2021, the actual amount of prescriptions compared to sales is expected to increase further. It is analyzed that Visanne's growth was largely driven by two factors. The first factor is that since December 2018, even patients diagnosed radiologically using ultrasound or MRI can use Bizan, which has improved the patient discovery and prescription environment. Experts believe that the fact that ultrasound of the female genital organs, including the uterus, was covered in February 2020 as part of strengthening insurance coverage, may have had an impact on increasing patient accessibility. In fact, according to the NHIS data, the number of patients with endometriosis in 2019-2020 stood out more than in other years. It increased by 12% from 136,144 in 2019 to 155,183 in 2020. Compared to the annual increase of 7-9%, the rate of increase is greater. As the number of endometriosis patients increases, the growth rate of generic products in addition to the original Bizan is also increasing significantly. According to Ubist, the sales growth of the Bizan generic product line was minimal, with sales of ▲900 million won in 2019 and ▲1.2 billion won in 2021. This is a figure that has grown by about 8.4% from 16.6% in 2021 to 25% in 2022 in terms of sales compared to the total market size. Bayer has no choice but to think about various strategies to continue Bizan's growth. Basically, in this situation, the first thing multinational pharmaceutical companies emphasize is the long-term effect and safety of the original. Bayer announced that Bizan reduced EAPP and improved HRQoL in the long term through the final analysis results of 'ENVISIOeN', a real-world study that evaluated the long-term efficacy and safety of Bizan in 6 Asian countries for 24 months in March last year. did. Along with this, Bayer's more fundamental response strategy is to expand its treatment of endometriosis rather than playing a game of chicken with generics in the market. In December 2018, it was possible to diagnose endometriosis with ultrasound, but the proportion of clinicians is still relatively low when examining the usage performance by a nursing institution with Visanne and Dienogest. Bayer's strategy also starts from this situation. Until now, endometriosis was recognized as a disease that was treated in general hospitals, but the plan is to focus on publicizing it as the paradigm is changing. A Bayer official said, “The biggest task is to publicize endometriosis as a disease that can be treated in clinics. Now, we are focusing on publicizing it based on a lot of evidence.” As we are at the stage of treatment, we are considering practical measures through a paradigm shift in treatment and RWE."
- Company
- Sales in the Dutasteride market are strong
- by Kim, Jin-Gu Mar 17, 2023 05:46am
- Avodart and Propecia quarterly sales (units, data IQVIA) The original drug, GSK Avodart, was the first in 2021 to go beyond Propecia (Finasteride), leading to the market for two consecutive years until last year. In the case of generic, Dutasteride grows steeply and pursues the Finesteride quickly. In the pharmaceutical industry, the new formulation product is cited as a variable in the market. Boryeong's newly -made FINASTERIDE ingredient has been released, and Chong Kun Dang is developing a product of an injection formulation. ◆ Avodart's sales last year sales of 43.6 billion won VS Propecia's sales of 39.6 billion won According to IQVIA, a pharmaceutical market research firm on the 15th, GSK Avodart's sales last year were 43.6 billion won. In 2021, the company increased by 4% from 41.9 billion won, changing the highest sales record. If the scope is expanded to the last four years, sales growth will be even worse. Avodart's sales, which amounted to 31.1 billion won in 2018, increased by 40% in four years. In particular, in 2021, the company surpassed the existing market in Korea. Propecia, the origin of hair loss treatment, has been steadily declining since 2019. Propecia's sales amounted to 39.6 billion won last year. In 2019, sales of 41.6 billion won were lowered to less than 40 billion won in 2021, and last year, it decreased even more. In the pharmaceutical industry, price competitiveness is cited as Avodart's rapid growth. AVODART is currently being supplied to 700 won per 1,700 won per 0.5mg product. Avodart has lowered the price from 1300 won to 920 won as the patent expired in 2016. In 2017, additional cuts to 700 won were lowered to half compared to Propecia. ◆ Dutasteride generic sales rising Dutasteride products also increased significantly. Hyundai Pharm's Damodad's sales, which amounted to 5.9 billion won in 2021, increased 26% to 7.5 billion won last year. Until 2019, annual sales amounted to only 900 million won, but more than eight times in three years. Hanall Biopharma Pharma ADAMO also increased sales by 62% from 1.8 billion won to 3.1 billion won in a year. In addition, sales increased by more than 10% in one year, including Huttex Pharmaceuticals Korea, Daewoong Bio DAEWOONG BIO DUTASTERIDE, DUTALID, and Dutaride Soft Cap. In the case of Finasteride, the market size is still greater than Dutasteride, but the growth trend has slowed. Momopecia increased 13% from 5.7 billion won in 2021 to 6.5 billion last year. On the other hand, Genu One Science MYPECIA decreased by 16% from 5 billion won to 4.1 billion won during the same period, while JW SHINYAK MONAD decreased by 25% from 5.3 billion won to 4 billion won. The sales of three of the six products, which recorded more than 3 billion won last year, fell compared to the previous year.
- Company
- Enhertu's petition subcommittee is announced
- by Eo, Yun-Ho Mar 17, 2023 05:46am
- The 'answer' to the national petition urging insurance coverage for the next-generation ADC anti-cancer drug Enhertu is expected to come out soon. According to the related industry, Daiichi Sankyo Korea and AstraZeneca Korea's HER2-positive breast cancer treatment, Antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) Enhertu, will be submitted to the Petition Review Subcommittee next week. As a result, attention is paid to how it will affect the Enhertu benefit listing process. The drug was referred to the Health and Welfare Committee of the National Assembly last month after a petition urging health insurance approval at the beginning of this year gained the consent of 50,000 people. Enhertu, based on the DESTINY-Breast01 and DESTINY-Gastric01 clinical studies from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety in September of last year, Enhertu is ▲unresectable or metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer who have previously received two or more anti-HER2-based therapies and ▲previously anti-HER2 anti-HER2 approved for the treatment of locally advanced or metastatic HER2-positive gastric or gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma who have received two or more therapies, including treatment. Also, in December, based on the DESTINY-Breast03 clinical trial, it received approval for an expanded indication for the treatment of patients with unresectable or metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer who had previously received one or more anti-HER2-based therapies. Enhertu is an antibody-drug conjugate. The antibody-drug conjugate uses the selectivity for the target and the killing activity of the drug to selectively act only on cancer cells, thereby increasing the therapeutic effect and minimizing side effects. Ra Seon-young, a professor of oncology at Yonsei Cancer Hospital, said, "Enhertu is the first and only HER2-targeted therapy that has demonstrated a survival period of more than one year as a treatment for advanced gastric cancer after treatment with Trastuzumab. "Considering the small number of patients, we hope that the reimbursement will be applied as soon as possible," she said. In the Enhertu DESTINY-Breast03 study, a head-to-head treatment with T-DM1 showed a significant improvement in PFS in patients with unresectable or metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer who had previously received one or more anti-HER2 therapies. In the interim analysis updated in 2022, mPFS was 28.8 months in the Enhertu group, 22 months longer than 6.8 months in the T-DM1 group, and overall survival (OS), a major secondary endpoint, was higher in the Enhertu group than in the T-DM1 group It showed a statistically significant result that reduced the risk of death by 36% compared to Enhertu's DESTINY-Breast01 trial confirmed sustained antitumor effects in patients with unresectable or metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer who had previously received two or more anti-HER2 therapies including T-DM1, Trastuzumab, and Pertuzumab. As a result of the study, Enhertu showed a confirmed ORR of 60.9%) and mPFS of 16.4 months. The mDOR was 14.8 months, showing a sustained antitumor effect even in severely ill patients with a median number of previous anticancer drugs reaching 6 (range 2-27).
- Company
- MSD ‘Januvia’s NTTP impurity level is at low risk’
- by Jung, Sae-Im Mar 17, 2023 05:45am
- On the 16th, Regarding the issue of excess nitrosamine impurities detected in some Januvia 50mg products, MSD Korea said, “The company has detected impurities that exceed the acceptable limit in two 50mg packaged batches among all Januvia products that were imported to Korea until October 2022. As a precautionary measure, the company has decided to voluntarily recall these products, and the level of impurity detected in the batches poses a negligible risk to patient safety." According to MSD Korea, the company has been updating the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety on the company’s measures and plans for control since August last year when the company first became aware of possible detection of the nitrosamine carcinogen, 'Nitroso-STG-19 (NTTP),' in Januvia. Upon MFDS request, the company has recently conducted a full inspection of impurities on all distributable Januvia products among those imported to Korea by October last year. Results showed that Januvia 50mg products with batch numbers ▲U010253 ▲U012914 were detected to have excess nitrosamine impurities. MSD Korea explained, “The detected level of impurities slightly exceeds the temporary accepted interim limit (maximum 246.7 ng/day).” The company had decided to make voluntary recalls for the batches detected with excess impurities on the 15th. The detected batches were last supplied to the Korean market on November 1, 2021, and have a use-by date that expires in February 2024. MSD Korea added, “The number of products that were detected to have excess impurities account for 0.35% of all formulations of Januvia products that were distributed in the same period.” MSD Korea also estimated that most stock of drugs with the corresponding lot numbers would have been exhausted by now at pharmacies when considering the prescription rate, frequency of orders, and order volume of Januvia in Korea. NTTP was first found as an impurity last year. As a nitrosamine compound, it is naturally found in low levels in drinking water, pickled/grilled meats and fish, vegetables, and dairy products. It is also produced in the drug manufacturing process. In June last year, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) raised the possibility of NTTP detections and requested inspections for the substances ▲sitagliptin, ▲varenicline, ▲methylphenidate, ▲ rifampicin, ▲rasagiline, ▲amitriptyline, ▲nortriptyline, and ▲dabigatran. At the time, the impurity test on Januvia showed that detected levels of NTTP did not exceed the accepted level. Since then, MSD Korea has been additionally conducting NTTP tests on all samples of drugs that contain sitagliptin manufactured from July last year. In other words, drugs that were manufactured after July last year are only allowed to be released to the market if they pass testing for NTTP impurities, and therefore have no impurity issues. The company said, “We have been conducting additional quality control measures and supplying drugs that meet the temporarily accepted release standards, and are making rapid efforts to strengthen process control to further minimize the NTTP level so that we can meet the long-term intake standards.”
- Company
- Exclusive domestic sales of JW Shinyak, Galderma hair loss
- by Mar 16, 2023 05:45am
- Kim Yong-gwan, CEO of JW Shinyak (right), and Kim Yeon-hee, CEO of GaldermaJW Shinyak announced on the 15th that it has signed a domestic exclusive sales contract with Galderma for hair loss treatment Ell-cranell and nail athlete's foot treatment Loceryl nail lacquer. According to the contract, JW Shinyak will be in charge of domestic sales and marketing of the two products. Ell-cranell is an androgenetic alopecia treatment that can be used by both men and women. It minimizes hair loss by suppressing the production of dihydrotestosterone, which is the cause of hair loss, threefold. It is easy to apply to the scalp with an applicator once a day, increasing convenience. As a result of clinical trials on 51 female patients with androgenetic alopecia in Korea, the number of hair increased by 9.8% and the thickness of hair by 13.2% after 8 months of Ell-cranell application. Also, more than 80% of the clinical participants rated it as 'easy to apply and not sticky to the scalp and hair'. Loceryl nail lacquer is the first product of Galderma launched in Korea in 1999 and is the most-sold topical treatment for toenail fungus (onychomycosis) in the world. It is a manicure-type external application that is applied directly to the nails, and the antifungal effect is maintained for 7 to 14 days just by using it once or twice a week. It is quickly absorbed into the nail, is not easily erased by water or sweat, and forms a protective film on the surface to prevent infection. With this contract as an opportunity, JW Shinyak plans to further enhance its competitiveness in the domestic skin disease treatment market. Kim Yong-gwan, CEO of JW New Drug, said, "The introduction of Galderma products, which have proven their excellence in the global market, has allowed us to build a more diverse lineup along with existing self-produced drugs." will go," he said.
- Company
- SPC Korea to exclusively distribute 2 new COPD drugs in KOR
- by Eo, Yun-Ho Mar 16, 2023 05:45am
- SPC Korea will now be in charge of the domestic supply of two new COPD drugs in Korea. The company announced it had signed an exclusive agreement for the sales and distribution of two Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) treatments with the multinational pharmaceutical company, Covis Pharma GmbH. Under the agreement, SPC Pharm has been exclusively selling and distributing Eklira (Aclidinium bromide)’ and ' Duaklir (aclidinium bromide/formoterol fumarate dihydrate) in Korea from March 1. Covis Pharma had previously acquired the global rights for Eklira and Duaklir from AstraZeneca. Upon signing the agreement, the exclusive distribution and sales rights for the drugs in Korea will be transferred to SPC Korea, and their license transfer process is currently underway. The two drugs are delivered via the Genuair device and used as maintenance treatment for patients with COPD. SPC Pharm plans to strengthen marketing for the products to increase the market share of these products in Korea's COPD treatment market. A company official said, “Through the agreement, we plan to strengthen the company's existing respiratory treatment portfolio and continuously introduce global new drugs to provide new treatment options in Korea ."
- Company
- IIT seeks use of Leclaza in the first line in Korea
- by Jin-Joong Hwang Mar 15, 2023 05:56am
- New third generation lung cancer drug developed by Yuhan Corp Investigator-Initiated trials (IIT) are being conducted on the use of ‘Leclaza (lasertinib),’ Yuhan Corp’s new third-generation drug for non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLS), as a first-line treatment. Over the past 3 years, a total of 11 IITs have been approved for Leclaza, indicating the high interest among HCPs in finding a new treatment method using Leclaza. According to industry sources on the 14th, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety approved a randomized Phase IIb trial the day before that compares Leclaza monotherapy with Leclaza+Avastin combination in patients with advanced EGFR mutation-positive NSCLC who have a smoking history. The Phase IIb trial that compares Leclaza as monotherapy with the Leclaza+Avastin combination will be led by the National Cancer Center and conducted in 5 institutions including the Ajou University Hospital, Severance Hospital, Gangnam Severance Hospital, and St. Vincent Hospital. The trial is an investigator-initiated trial that uses Leclaza as the primary treatment. According to Yuhan Corp, this is the first clinical trial that investigates Leclaza’s use in the first line. Leclaza is a third-generation EGFR TKI class drug that received conditional approval in Korea in January 2021. It inhibits the signaling pathway involved in tumor cell growth and supresses lung cancer cell proliferation and growth. In Korea, Leclaza received conditional approval as a second-line treatment in patients with locally advanced or metastatic NSCLC who developed T790M resistance after prior treatment with a first- or second-generation EGFR TKI. Avastin is a drug used for the treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer, metastatic breast cancer, NSCLC, etc. The drug is approved for use in combination with platinum-based chemotherapy regimens to treat inoperable, locally advanced or metastatic non-squamous NSCLC. Also, the drug can be used in combination with erlotinib as a first-line treatment for inoperable EGFR mutation-positive, advanced, metastatic, or recurrent non-squamous NSCLC. During the past 3 years, a total of 11 IITs have been approved for Leclaza. This rise in number of clinical trials for Leclaza reflects the HCPs' rising interest in finding new treatment methods with Leclaza. Among the trials, major IITs include the Phase II trial being led by Seoul National University Hospital that is investigating the use of Leclaza+’Alimta (pemetrexed)’ combination in EGFR mutation-positive NSCLC patients with leptomeningeal metastases. The Phase II trial was approved in April 2021, and patient recruitement for the trial in complete, enrolling 43 patients. Also, patient recruitment is underway for a Phase II trial for NSCLC patients including those with rare EGFR mutations. The trial, which is led by Severance Hospital, has been approved in 2021 Since 2021, Seoul St. Mary’s Hospital has been conducting a Phase II trial studying the combined use of Leclaza, Alimta, and ‘Neoplatin (carboplatin)’ in EGFR mutation-positive metastatic NSCLC patients with asymptomatic or mild symptomatic brain metastases who have failed treatment with ‘Tagrisso (osimbertinib).’ Also, Samsung Medical Center has received approval for a single-arm Phase II trial investigating the use of Leclaza in EGFR mutation-positive NSCLC patients with no prior TKI treatment experience and is currently recruiting patients.
- Company
- Pfizer pays an average of 1.1 billion won per person
- by Jung, Sae-Im Mar 15, 2023 05:56am
- It was found that Pfizer Korea Pharmaceutical, which implemented an ERP system through organizational reorganization last year, paid 11.5 billion won as compensation for retirement. It is known that about 10 employees applied for voluntary retirement. It is calculated that each person received an average of 1.1 billion won. According to an audit report submitted by Pfizer Pharmaceutical Korea to the Financial Supervisory Service on the 15th, the company paid a total of 17.8 billion won last year as employee severance pay. Retirement benefits are 6.4 billion won and honorary severance pay is 11.5 billion won. The notable part is the honorary severance pay. Retirement pay refers to the severance pay paid by the company upon resignation. Honorary severance pay is in the nature of consolation money. This is an expense paid to employees who applied for voluntary retirement when the company conducts a manpower reduction due to a change in management. Last year, Pfizer Pharmaceuticals Korea conducted an organizational reorganization according to the business environment that changed with Corona 19. As the proportion of digital-centered non-face-to-face sales increases, the direction is to establish a new sales department. As a result, the size of the existing sales team, which was divided into business divisions, was partially reduced. During the reorganization process, the company conducted an in-house 'job posting' to readjust the arrangement of employees who applied for a job transfer and also implemented an early retirement program. About 10 people are said to have left the company due to voluntary retirement. The reorganization was completed in November last year. The total amount of severance pay paid by the company to applicants for voluntary retirement is 11.5 billion won. Although there are variations depending on the number of years of service, each employee received an average of 1.1 billion won as compensation. Pfizer's ERP conditions are not known, but the average condition commonly used in the industry is 2n+8. This means that an additional 8 months' salary is paid for twice the number of years of service. Depending on the company, there are cases where additional special consolation money is paid according to annual leave. This is to induce managers with a long service life to apply for voluntary retirement. The amount of honorary severance pay paid by Pfizer Korea last year was the largest since 2015. Pfizer Korea is often considered a company that implements voluntary retirement programs. In 2013 and 2015, the company paid 18 billion won and 19.2 billion won in honorary retirement benefits, respectively, as a large-scale voluntary retirement program. In 2016, it also spent 6.9 billion won. In 2018, ahead of the spin-off of the out-of-patent drug division (Pfizer Upzone), 9.4 billion won was paid as an honorary severance pay. For 10 years from 2013, the total amount of honorary severance pay paid by Pfizer Korea reached 71.2 billion won. The number of employees is maintained at a similar level by sending out high-ranking managers and recruiting young people. Pfizer Pharmaceuticals Korea, which had about 730 to 750 people before the spin-off of Pfizer Upzone, has grown to 460 people after the separation. Since then, the number has dropped to 406 due to continued voluntary retirement but rose to 420 last year. Recently, it has also started to recruit new sales staff on a large scale. About 10 new employees are selected to be in charge of selling the Corona 19 vaccine and treatment. It is interpreted as a measure to prepare for the private market after the end of the Corona 19 pandemic.
- Company
- HPV vaccination for males a necessity rather than an option
- by Whang, byung-woo Mar 14, 2023 05:51am
- Whether the national immunization program (NIP) for the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine should be extended to cover males remains a hot issue in Korea. With the NIP applied for its use in girls aged 12 years or older, the government extended the program to include those aged 13 to 17 (born between 2004 to 2008) and low-income women aged 18 to 26. In countries such as the US, male HPV vaccination is also covered through NIP, but the agenda is still under discussion in Korea. However, as President Yoon Suk-Yeol had announced vaccination to males aged 12 years older using NIP as an election pledge, whether this will really be implemented is gathering attention. For this, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency was found to have been carrying out a research project to analyze the cost-effectiveness of extending NIP to HPV vaccinations in adolescent males on the 3rd. Director Geun-Yong Kwon, Division of Immunization, Bureau of Healthcare Safety and Immunization at KDCA, said, “The new government fully agrees on the need for male HPV vaccinations, and we are in the process of securing evidentiary material to support this. We plan to reflect its inclusion in the budget by early next year." However, the conclusion may not be so easily drawn as it would cost a considerable amount. Due to its characteristics and the NIP, HPV vaccines are better known in Korea as a cervical cancer vaccines. However, men also do get infected with HPV, and the most common clinical manifestation is genital warts in men. At a media session that was held by MSD on the 3rd on the 'A to Z of HPV,’ Seung-Ju Lee, President of the Korean Association of Urogenital Tract Infection and Inflammation (Urology, St. Vincent Hospital) stressed the need for male HPV vaccinations. According to Lee, the prevalence of genital warts in Korea had increased threefold over the past decade, from 25,208 patients in 2010 to 65,203 patients in 2019 prior to the pandemic. Also, although the prevalence of genital warts was higher in women than men, it was highest in men 25-29 years of age. In Korea, genital warts occur mainly in the younger age group, and its incidence tended to be higher in men than in women. Also, there were views that it is important to vaccinate men to prevent cervical cancer, for which the NIP is currently applied to HPV vaccinations for women only. With the yearly rise in the HPV vaccination rate, the prevalence of HPV infections are expected to be decline, however, when considering the time required to achieve herd immunity, Lee explained that it would be more effective if both women and men are vaccinated at the same time. According to MSD, its predictive modeling study in Europe and Belgium showed that allowing HPV vaccination for both men and women was expected to be cost-effective in most countries. while allowing the high vaccination rate to be maintained among girls. Lee said, “Although the domestic HPV vaccination rate exceeded 80% for initial vaccinations, the rate becomes lower when taking into account the second vaccinations. Korea is quite new to applying NIP to HPV vaccines yet, therefore, to create herd immunity, it would be much more effective and also better for preventing male diseases to concurrently allow HPV vaccinations for men under NIP as well.” Among the 110 countries that are conducting HPV vaccinations under NIP, 52 countries including the US, UK, Canada, Australia, Switzerland, Italy, and Austria have extended its vaccinated subjects from girls to boys (as of March 2022), therefore, it is not unusual that this discussion is being made in Korea. As the government has also been selected extending eligibility for HPV vaccinations using NIP as its national task, it is true that there are positive forces underway supporting the implementation of the system. However, the issue mentioned above is its cost-effectiveness. The KDCA estimates that a budget of approximately KRW 19 billion won will be required every year if HPV vaccination is expanded to boys. In this sense, the results of KDCA’s research project that will be disclosed in the first half of this year may determine the direction of whether the NIP will be expanded to male HPV vaccination in Korea.
- Company
- The erectile dysfunction tx market sales are at an all-time
- by Chon, Seung-Hyun Mar 14, 2023 05:51am
- Hanmi Pharmaceutical PalPal Leads for 7 Consecutive Years. Continuation of Dominant System Last year, the domestic erectile dysfunction treatment market grew to the largest ever. Domestic companies' generic products dominated the market, accounting for nearly 90% of the market. According to IQVIA, a drug research institute on the 8th, the size of the erectile dysfunction treatment market last year was 129.1 billion won, up 9.1% from the previous year. Following 2021, it broke the record for the second consecutive year. After recording 113.9 billion won in 2019, the erectile dysfunction treatment market recorded a downward trend to 112.4 billion won the following year. At the time, it was evaluated that growth was dampened as patients' visits to hospitals and clinics decreased due to the prolonged Corona 19 and restrictions were placed on sales marketing activities. It succeeded in rebounding by 5.2% from the previous year to 118.3 billion won in 2021 and continued to grow last year. Products released by domestic pharmaceutical companies dominated the erectile dysfunction treatment market. Last year, sales of erectile dysfunction treatments by domestic companies totaled 114.7 billion won, up 10.8% from the previous year. It increased by 26.6% over four years from 90.6 billion won in 2018, showing a steady rise. Last year, domestic companies accounted for 88.9% of the erectile dysfunction treatment market. It continued to rise every year from 83.8% in 2018. The multinational pharmaceutical company's erectile dysfunction treatment products are Viagra and Cialis. Generic products released by domestic pharmaceutical companies overwhelm original products. Looking at the sales of major products, Hanmi Pharmaceutical's PalPal still showed off its unrivaled prestige in the market. PalPal is a generic product of Viagra. Last year, PalPal's sales increased by 6.3% year-on-year to 21.8 billion won. PalPal's market share in the entire erectile dysfunction treatment market reached 16.9%, so it was influential in the market. PalPal overtook Viagra in the second quarter of 2013, one year after its release, and surpassed Cialis in the fourth quarter of 2015, becoming the leader in erectile dysfunction treatment sales. PalPal has never fallen from the leading position for seven years from the fourth quarter of 2015 to last year. PalPal more than doubled the sales of the original product Viagra (8.7 billion won). Considering that the price of PalPal is significantly lower than that of Viagra, it is possible to calculate that the prescription volume gap is much larger. Chong Kun Dang's Cendom ranked second with sales of 11.4 billion won last year, up 6.1% from the previous year. Hanmi Pharm's Gugu recorded sales of 11.4 billion won, up 18.5% from the previous year, exceeding 10 billion won in annual sales for the first time. Cendom and Gugu are generics of Cialis. Among all erectile dysfunction drugs, only three products (PalPal, Cendom, and Gugu) exceeded 10 billion won in sales. Released after Cialis' patent expired in September 2015, Cendom gradually expanded its market share, surpassing the original product Cialis in the fourth quarter of 2017. In the fourth quarter of 2018, it maintained its second place since surpassing Viagra. Gugu surpassed Cialis in the second quarter of 2019 and also surpassed Viagra in the second quarter of 2021. Sales of Viagra and Cialis, which had built the two major mountain ranges of erectile dysfunction treatments in the past, have gradually decreased. Viagra's sales last year were 8.7 billion won, down 1.1 percent from the previous year. It decreased by 12.3% in 4 years from 9.9 billion won in 2018. Last year, sales of Cialis recorded 5.7 billion won, down 5.2% from the previous year. It fell 22.8% over four years from 7.4 billion won in 2018.
