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- 2025-12-27 08:45:29
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- Janssen Korea breaks through KRW 300 bln for the first time
- by An, Kyung-Jin Mar 05, 2020 06:33am
- Janssen Korea’s yearly sales revenue (left) and operating profit (right) (Unit: KRW 100 million) Source: Financial Supervisory Service and Yuhan IR Janssen Korea broke through the 300 billion won-line in Korea for the first time. Leveraged by outstanding performance of star products like Remicade, Simponi and Stelara, the global pharmaceutical company manifested impressive sales revenue and operating profit. According to performance data of last fourth quarter provided by Yuhan on Mar. 2, Janssen Korea has made overall 311 billion won last year with 17.5 percent increase from the previous year. 36 years since the Korean office was founded, Janssen Korea has for the first time generated more than 300 billion in a year. The operating profit was surged by 111.7 percent and reached 37.9 billion won. Compared to 38.7 billion won made in 2007, last year was the second most profitable year. However, the figure could change in coming months as it is from tentative data before an audit by an accounting firm. According to the partnership investment deal inked between Yuhan and the U.S.-based Johnson and Johnson (J&J) in May of 1983, Janssen Korea was established. J&J owns 70 percent of the share (746,760 shares), and Yuhan as a second largest shareholder owns the rest of 30 percent (320,040 shares) of the share. Due to equity method, Yuhan has been disclosing its associate, Janssen Korea’s business performance via quarterly IR data since the second quarter of 2014. Yuhan receives a set ratio of dividend from Janssen’s net profit. Yearly sales revenue of Janssen Korea’s major pharmaceutical products (Unit: KRW 100 million) Source: IQVIA Autoimmune disease treatments like Remicade (infliximab), Simponi (golimumab) and Stelara (ustekinumab) have led the massive revenue hike. Pharmaceutical market research firm IQVIA found the three products have generated total of 99.3 billion won last year with 14.1-percent increase. Compared to 2015, the revenue volume has leapt by 93.3 percent. The sales revenue of interleukin antagonist Stelara showed the steepest surge. Making 22.2 billion won last year, Stelara’s sales volume was boosted by 54.2 percent. The figure has quadrupled since 2015. The company’s top seller, Remicade also made 46 billion won last year with 2.0-percent increase than the year before. Although the yearly increase was not so significant, Remicade is the company’s biggest cash cow as it leads the TNF-alpha inhibitor market in Korea. Remicade’s follow-on TNF-alpha inhibitor Simponi has been absorbing the market share fast since its release in 2013. Simponi also climbed up 13.0 percent last year and generated 31.0 billion won. The medication, available in both subcutaneous and intravenous injections, stepped up above Pfizer’s Enbrel and sold the third most volume in the TNF-alpha inhibitor market.
- Company
- Boryung Bio releases 'self-sufficient' quadrivalent vaccine
- by An, Kyung-Jin Mar 05, 2020 06:33am
- Boryung DTaP-IPV Vaccine On Mar. 2, Boryung Biopharma announced the release of ‘Boryung DTaP-IPV Vaccine’ for infants and children. ‘Boryung DTaP-IPV Vaccine’ is a quadrivalent vaccine consisting of DTaP vaccines preventing diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis and inactivated polio vaccine (IPV) against poliomyelitis. Total six doses is required when administering single DTaP vaccine and IPV separately on six-month-old or younger infants, but the combination vaccine could ease the administration by reducing the number of dose down to three. Boryung Biopharma official claimed, “For the first time as a Korean pharmaceutical company, the company has successfully manufactured DTaP-IPV combination vaccine in its own production facility.” As DTaP-IPV combination vaccine requires infants to get shots exactly at second, fourth and sixth month, securing a stable supply of the vaccine is crucial. The combination vaccine has been only supplied by multinational companies and some infants have reportedly missed the right timing of the immunization as vaccine supply was unavailable due to problem in importing procedure or distribution channel. Seven years since the pipeline was set on, Boryung Biopharma was able to develop and manufacture self-sufficient ‘Boryung DTaP-IPV Vaccine.’ According to the provided data, the Korean company has initiated four-year-long transnational clinical trial, including Korea, and confirmed equivalent level of efficacy with compared group in first and second efficacy evaluation. And adverse drug reaction or event did not show significant difference. Based on the clinical result, the Korean-manufactured combination vaccine won Ministry of Food and Drug Safety’s (MFDS) approval last August. Vaccine Division of Boryung Biopharma stated, “Made in Korea’s first ever vaccine manufacturing facility, the newly released ‘Boryung DTaP-IPV Vaccine’ would provide essential vaccine supply. We hope to contribute in reducing medical industry’s struggle with insufficient supply of DTaP-IPV vaccine and in easing the immunization process for infants and their parents.” From last January, National Immunization Program (NIP) has included ‘Boryung DTaP-IPV Vaccine.’ Infants aged two, four and six months may receive free shots of the vaccine at a public health center or designated medical institute in Korea.
- Company
- BMS-Celgene merger restructures Korean office
- by Eo, Yun-Ho Mar 04, 2020 06:27am
- The basic frame of Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) and Celgene’s merger company has been unveiled. Recently, BMS presented a newly formed division and appointed the head of Business Unit for the merger. The Commercial Business Unit, including marketing and sales, would undergo the biggest change. BMS has decided to integrate BMS’ existing Oncology division and Celgene’s Hematology division based on the latest reorganization decision. As a result, various anticancer immunotherapies, including Celgene’s star product Revlimid (lenalidomide), multiple myeloma pipeline and BMS’ Yervoy (ipilomumab) and Opdivo (nivolumab), would be promoted under a single Business Unit. The merged Oncology and Hematology Business Unit would be led by Senior Direct Lee Seunghun, who used to lead BMS’ Oncology Unit. Medical Affairs division has been integrated as well. Similar to Marketing and Sales divisions, individual account executives would take over multiple myeloma, lymphoma and anticancer treatment under the single roof of Medical Affairs division. As for the heads of Market Access division and Corporate Affairs division, Executive Director Yeo Dongho (a former Market Access manager at Celgene) and Senior Director Park Kye-hyun were appointed, respectively. Government Affair division and other business support divisions would maintain the existing system. The newly merged BMS-Celgene company would house the Region Office within ‘China & Asia Cluster Office,’ located in Singapore. The company’s China & Asia Cluster Market has welcomed Jesus Acebillo, originally from Novartis, as a new CEO.
- Company
- Whan In has signed domestic monopoly rights of 'Cariprazine'
- by Jung, Hye-Jin Mar 04, 2020 06:27am
- Whan In Pharm (CEO Won-bum Lee) announced on the 2nd that it has signed an exclusive contract to introduce Cariprazine, a schizophrenic drug from Gedeon Richter, Hungary. Under this contract, Whan In Pharm is responsible for commercializing, distributing and selling products such as domestic clinical trials and product approval of Cariprazine. Gedeon Richter will supply to Whan In. Cariprazine is a once-daily oral medication for schizophrenia, currently approved and released in 15 countries including the United States and Europe. The U.S. product name is 'Vraylar' and the European product name is 'Reagila'. Cariprazine is sold by Allergan in the United States as a treatment for adult type 1 bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. In Europe, it is approved for the treatment of adult schizophrenia and is sold by Recordati and Gedeon Richter. Won-bum Lee, CEO of Whan In Pharm, said, “We will build a partnership with Gedeon Richter to further strengthen neurology and Psychiatry influences of Whan In Pharm, and we are pleased to offer new treatment options to Korean medical staff and patients through Cariprazine”.
- Company
- In the aftermath of the COVID-19, the BA test was disrupted
- by Chon, Seung-Hyun Mar 04, 2020 06:27am
- COVID-19 infections have also influenced the generic development strategies of pharmaceutical companies. Due to the risk of infection with COVID-19, the bioequivalence task of medical institutions has been disrupted. This is an embarrassing situation for pharmaceutical companies that are conducting bioequivalence tests to reduce drug prices ahead of the reform of the generic drug price system. They are concerned whether the new generics' approval schedule may be delayed or the authorization for drug price maintenance will affect the generic bioequivalence test. According to the industry on the 1st, H Plus Yangji Hospital recently announced the suspension of bioequivalence testing due to the spread of COVID-19 to pharmaceutical companies and analysis agencies. Yangji Hospital has decided to suspend face-to-face testing related to bioequivalence tests, including first-dose monitoring, screening, monitoring, and initiation meeting, by March 15. Tests that have been completed on stage I will proceed normally. Although there were no COVID-19 confirmed patients at the hospital, the company decided to minimize face-to-face work to prevent infection. Yangji Hospital said, “We have made a lot of efforts to conduct a safe test in accordance with the spread of COVID-19, but decided to suspend the work on our own because it is too dangerous”. Yangji Hospital is a medical institution where the largest number of generic bioequivalence tests are conducted in Korea. Last year, 190 of 259 approved bioequivalence studies were performed at Yangji Hospital. Three out of four bioequivalence studies are in charge of Yangji Hospital. Yangji Hospital performed 116 of the 178 approved bioequivalence studies in 2018, accounting for 65.2%. Many medical institutions, except Yangji Hospital, are reportedly conducting bioequivalence testing, such as medication and blood collection. However, if the spread of COVID-19 accelerates in the future, the possibility of business disruption is raised. As a result, pharmaceutical companies are inevitable on generic development strategies. In particular, the development of new generics in preparation for the reform of the drug price system and the strategy of licensed generics may also be affected. The revised drug price plan, which is scheduled to be implemented in July, has the key point that the company must maintain the upper limit of 53.55% compared to the original before the expiration of the patent only when both the bioequivalence test and DMF. Whenever one requirement is not met, the upper limit drops by 15%. In the case of registered generics, the upper limit can be maintained at 53.55% if the bioequivalence test and DMF requirements are met within three years. In the case of new generic drugs, if they do not carry out direct bioequivalence tests, they will receive lower prices than before. The prolonged discontinuation of bioequivalence testing could be a variable in the plan to get higher prices for new generics. There is also same situation with licensed generics. Pharmaceutical companies can maintain their existing high prices only after conducting bioequivalence tests and judging suitability prior to July 2023 for generics licensed under preconditioning. Indeed, pharmaceutical companies are aggressively undertaking bioactivity testing. Approval Status of Monthly Bioequivalence Test Plan (Unit: Case, Source: the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety) According to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, 26 bioequivalence plans approved last month were up 85.7% year-on-year. A total of 44 bioequivalence plans were approved in January and February this year, 13 more than 31 January and February last year. A total of 91 bioequivalence plans were approved in the first half of last year, and increased significantly to 168 in the second half of last year. Licensed generics are actively tested. It is a bioequivalence test for the purpose of changing a manufacturer to produce generics approved by a consignment directly in its own manufacturing facility. If the biopharmaceutical test is conducted with generics produced through the drug product research and the equivalent result is obtained, the drug price reduction can be avoided through the change permit. Some pharmaceutical companies are considering launching bioequivalence trials for as many as tens of generics. The delay in the schedule of bioequivalence due to the spread of COVID-19 is a burden. An official of a pharmaceutical company said, “If the COVID-19 situation is prolonged, and the long-term interruption of bioequivalence testing will affect the generic development strategy and in addition to generics, it is also a concern to conduct normal clinical trials of new or improved drugs”.
- Company
- Eisai’s low-dose Pariet passed by general hospital DCs
- by Eo, Yun-Ho Mar 03, 2020 06:10am
- Low-dose Pariet is landing on general hospital prescription code. Pharmaceutical industry source reported Drug Committees in Severance Hospital, Samsung Medical Center, and Korea University Guro Hospital cleared proton pump inhibitor (PPI) Pariet 5 mg tablet (rabeprazole sodium), which received National Health Insurance reimbursement in last September. The newly launched Pariet 5 mg tablet has the lowest dose of the active ingredient among all PPI and rabeprazole medications available in Korea. Pariet 5 mg tablet, the only rabeprazole medication indicated for patients taking low-dose aspirin in Korea, differentiates itself from high-dose PPI medication as a lowest-dose PPI medication. The drug was released in Korea following the first global release in Japan. And by signing a co-marketing contract with Yuhan for marketing and sales in Korea, Eisai Korea is aiming to expand PPI market dominance. The current co-marketing deal is limited to low-dose (5 mg) tablet of Pariet, and the two companies are in discussion to expand the contract to cover all doses (10 mg and 20 mg) of the Pariet brand. The efficacy and safety of Pariet 5 mg tablet was confirmed through randomized, double-blind, multicenter PLANETARIUM study. Over 24 weeks, 472 patients receiving low-dose aspirin for cardiovascular or cerebrovascular protection, but also has a history of peptic ulcers, were divided into three groups each taking Pariet 5 mg, Pariet 10 mg, and mucosal protective agent teprenone 50 mg. As a result, Pariet 5 mg, Pariet 10 mg, and teprenone 50 mg patient groups showed cumulative recurrence rates of 2.8 percent, 1.4 percent, and 21.7 percent, respectively. It confirmed meaningful treatment effect in Pariet patient groups.
- Company
- GSK speeds up development of COVID-19 vaccine
- by Eo, Yun-Ho Mar 02, 2020 06:22am
- GSK is focusing its capabilities on developing the COVID-19 vaccine GSK recently announced cooperation with China's biotech company Clover, following the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI). Together, Clover and GSK will jointly develop a protein-based COVID-19 vaccine candidate (COVID-19 S-Trimer). GSK will provide its pandemic adjuvant system to clover for evaluation of S-trimers in the preclinical research phase. Adjuvants are added to some vaccines to boost the immune response and produce a stronger and longer lasting immunity to infection than using the vaccine alone. Clover has China's largest commercial cGMP biopharmaceutical manufacturing capacity, and is expected to rapidly expand and mass produce COVID-19 vaccine production facilities. GSK also provides adjuvant technology to CEPI. CEPI will act as a coordinator between CESK-supported companies and GSK, who want to test their vaccine platform using GSK's adjuvant technology to develop effective COVID-19 vaccines. The agreement was signed between GSK and the University of Queensland, Australia. The University of Queensland began working with the CEPI in January to develop a 'molecular clamp' vaccine platform to enable rapid targeted vaccine production to prevent multiple viral pathogens. The CEPI has decided to extend its support for vaccine platforms to the development of COVID-19 vaccine candidates, and this early stage research is supported by access to GSK adjuvant technology. The announcement also includes four previously announced CEPI research programs in progress with CureVac, Innovio, the University of Queensland, Moderna, and the NIAID, for the development of COVID-19. GSK officials said, "We look forward to helping partners with COVID-19 vaccine candidates by providing their adjuvant technology. Adjuvant can reduce the amount of vaccine protein required per dose, as a result, more vaccine doses can be produced and consequently contributes to the protection of more people".
- Company
- Hanmi-GC sign MOU for new drug R&D partnership
- by Chon, Seung-Hyun Mar 02, 2020 06:21am
- Hanmi Pharmaceutical and GC Pharma have inked the first new drug R&D partnership deal in the history. Two companies would concentrate their R&D capacity to increase the possibility of successful development of an innovative new drug. On Feb. 27, Hanmi Pharmaceutical and GC Pharma have announced the two have signed MOU on co-developing next generation enzyme replacement therapy (ERT) for rare disease on Feb. 26. At the GC Pharma headquarter, Hanmi Pharmaceutical President and CEO Kwon Se-chang and GC Pharma CEO Huh Eun Chul were convened at MOU signing ceremony along with other major R&D associates of two companies. The MOU promises two companies’ collaboration of candidate medicine exploration to the investigational drug commercialization targeting lysosomal storage disease (LSD). Based on Hanmi Pharmaceutical’s agent patent, GC Pharma is to lend their hands on developing the agent. Containing many hydrolysis enzymes, lysosome is a small organelle in a cell that functions as digestive system. However, excessive storage of lysosome could cause severe metabolic disease leading up to death. Apparently, about 4,000 patients in Korea are suffering from LSD. There are about 50 rare diseases induced by lysosomal storage. Currently, LSD patients are treated with ERT that intravenously injects enzyme made from a patient’s genetic recombination. The point of the MOU is to develop a breakthrough ERT that significantly enhances safety, half-life, administration convenience, and financial burden of the first generation treatment. Two companies aim to result in innovative new drug development by integrating Hanmi Pharmaceutical and GC Pharma’s R&C capacity. The plan is to maximize R&D synergy through sharing material resource, human resource, and R&D collaboration. R&D partnership between Hanmi Pharmaceutical and GC Pharma is a first time. Both companies anticipate raising the potential of new drug development by converging Hanmi Pharmaceutical’s new drug development capacity and GC Pharma’s rare disease treatment development expertise. GC Phrama has a history of developing Hunterase, a treatment for Hunter syndrome, a kind of LSDs. President Kwon Se-chang of Hanmi Pharmaceutical said, “GC Pharma has specialized expertise in rare disease sector, but more importantly it sets out a vision of innovation. We hope to present hopes to patients suffering from rare disease by putting together Hanmi Pharmaceutical’s rich experience in R&D and GC Pharma’s specialized expertise.” GC Pharma CEO Huh Eun Chul stressed, “We are more than thrilled to collaborate with Hanmi Pharmaceutical making new histories in pharmaceutical R&D in Korea. The R&D partnership of two companies with respective strengths would bridge the next generation treatment development in rare disease to an improvement in innovative treatment environment.”
- Company
- Panicking with first confirmed COVID-19 in industry
- by Chon, Seung-Hyun Feb 28, 2020 06:03am
- Korean pharmaceutical industry now has a first confirmed case of the 2019 novel coronavirus, COVID-19. Working at a research laboratory without much of external interaction, the infected employee is not expected to create a severe impact. But pharmaceutical companies are reinforcing precautionary measures against disease transmission. More pharmaceutical companies are ordering their employees to work from home and desperately trying to minimize break at work. ◆ Dong-A ST R&D Center employee tested positive, first confirmed case in the industry Dong-A ST R&D Center Pharmaceutical industry source reported on Feb. 27, a female employee working at Dong-A ST’s R&D Center located in city of Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, has been tested positive for COVID-19. Within pharmaceutical industry, she is the first confirmed case of COVID-19. The employee has visited Andong, North Gyeongsang Province, from Feb. 22 to 23. On Feb. 25, the employee received a message that Andong Health Center has confirmed a positive case, where the employee has been. After receiving the relayed message from her, Dong-A ST ordered the employee to self-quarantined herself and had her tested at Giheung-gu Health Center of Yongin, Gyeonggi Province. Apparently, she is not a researcher, but a part-time staff assisting laboratory experiment. Dong-A ST immediately closed down and disinfected the R&D center and its nearby Human Resource Center. All employees at the R&D center were ordered to self-quarantine for two weeks. From 4 p.m. on the same day, Dong-A ST has ordered their headquarter employees to leave offices and work from until Feb. 28. Although the infected employee has not visited the headquarter office, the company has decided to disinfect the entire headquarter building to prevent any further spread of the infection. Sales force of the company has been working from home starting from Feb. 25. Because of the preventive measure, the entire Dong-A ST R&D Center is halted. As the research work can only be done at laboratories, working from home is technically impossible and ongoing research programs would be suspended for a while. Because of one employee at Dong-A ST R&D Center, the whole pharmaceutical company has been stirred. The laboratory assistant apparently had not directly interacted with many other employees at the building with the nature of her work. But Dong-A ST cannot risk affecting other pharmaceutical companies in case other employees at the research center has contracted COVID-19. ◆ Pharmaceutical companies on high alert, infected salesperson would impact the industry Pharmaceutical companies are significantly reinforcing precautionary measures with the first case confirmed within the industry. At the moment, the industry is relieved it was not a salesperson who contracted COVID-19. If it were the case, the impact would have been devastating for the industry. With their nature of visiting tens of healthcare centers a day, sales forces could be a dangers carrier of COVID-19. While the government focuses on blocking secondary and tertiary infection by disclosing and immediately closing down locations a confirmed patient has visited. Some criticizes pharmaceutical companies letting their salespeople go around healthcare institutes is being ignorant about the severity of the risk. For instance, if a salesperson visiting 20 healthcare institutes a day were to have been tested positive, medical professionals, all patients and their families could have been exposed to the risk. The government announces all routes of infected patient, and healthcare institutes and pharmacies visited by an infected salesperson would unavoidably make a loss. A hospital restricted entry of pharmaceutical salesperson Assuming a salesperson has contracted COVID-19, the industry would inevitably get scrutinized for spreading the virus. The infected salesperson would be reprehended for spreading the virus around and damaging healthcare institutes. On Feb. 20, Korean Medical Practitioners Association has issued an official statement to Korea Pharmaceutical and Bio-pharma Manufacturers Association (KPBMA) and other organization to refrain salespeople from visiting hospitals and clinics. With the situation, pharmaceutical companies’ sales divisions are basically open with no business. Started with multinational pharmaceutical companies from last month, working from home has been recommended among Korean companies as well. Pfizer Pharmaceutical Korea, Novartis Korea, MSD Korea, AstraZeneca Korea, Bristol-Myers Squibb Korea, Sanofi-Aventis Korea, AbbVie Korea, Amgen Korea, Gilead Sciences Korea, Mundipharma Korea, Baxter Korea, Janssen Korea, and Bridge Biotherapeutics have decided to have all employees work from home. As for Korean companies, the managements of Hanmi Pharmaceutical, LG Chem, GC Pharma, CJ HealthCare, Dong-A ST, and Dong Wha Pharm have banned their employees to visit healthcare institutes. As COVID-19 has been spreading rapidly since Feb. 19 centering Daegu, North Gyeongsang Province, more companies are considering on having office staffs, not just salespeople, to work from home,. A source from a pharmaceutical company commented, “Because COVID-19 continues to spread exponentially, most of employees have been ordered to cancel external meetings and to work from home for all employee is being considered.” Over the span of 27 days, 505 have been confirmed with COVID-19 infection overnight. The number of total confirmed cases in Korea has soared to 1,766. 13 deaths from the infection have been reported in Korea so far. Most of companies have started to work in flexible or reduced hours. The maximum working hours in Dong-a ST has been reduced to from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Chong Kun Dang also segmented commuting time frame for each division to commute in. Other companies have suspended use of company cafeteria or divided employees to have their meals in different time. ◆ Industry fatigued with long-term outbreak, business and performance to take unwanted break Severance Hospital and other general hospitals have completely banned ward visitation to prevent spread of COVID-19 Apparently, the pharmaceutical companies are complaining of their extremely fatigued from the prolonged outbreak. A pharmaceutical company insider noted, “Working from home for a month, business to be done face-to-face has been suspended. By avoiding meetings with vendors and clients as much as possible, the company’s productivity has dropped dramatically.” Beside the low productivity, the companies also have to worry about the steep fall in sales. Pharmaceutical market research firm UBIST found last month’s outpatient prescription volume marked 1.25 trillion won. The figure dipped by 4.4 percent compared to same period last year, and by 4.6 percent compared to the previous month. It contrasts from recent January prescription volumes that have constantly increased over 5 percent every year. The volume in January 2019 was raised by 8.5 percent than January 2018. Januaries in 2016, 2017 and 2018 have surged by 5.4 percent, 7.6 percent and 18.2 percent, respectively, than the previous years. Although the early Lunar Calendar New Years may have affected the prescription volume with less number of working days, majority of experts analyze COVID-19 outbreak is the biggest cause of fall in outpatient prescription volume. The public has been on high alert since the first case of COVID-19 was confirmed on Jan. 20. The outpatient prescription from then was stricken by increasing number of patients avoiding healthcare institutes. The companies are anxious that this month’s sales would be even worse. Except for patients with severe or chronic disease, other patients with mild condition would naturally hesitate to visit healthcare institute. A decrease in number of patients would bring down the drug sales straight. Also, hindered sales activity would cripple Korean pharmaceutical companies highly dependent on generics. Within the same class of drugs, generic sales are swung by sales force. Meanwhile, breakthrough drugs or new drugs without generic and alternative options would hardly get affected from impeded sales activity. Salespeople staying away from healthcare institutes could also drag down the inflow of cash. Usually, the salespeople visit healthcare institutes and pharmacies to settle the drug product payments. But as most of healthcare institutes are obviously shunning the salespeople, collecting bills would also get difficult. A pharmaceutical company insider commented, “The company is deeply stressed about counteracting against the COVID-19 outbreak that doesn’t seem to ease out any time soon. This year’s overall sales would plummet if the situation lingers longer.”
- Company
- Pharmaceutical staff struggle to work from home
- by Jung, Hye-Jin Feb 27, 2020 06:35am
- In the aftermath of COVID-19, face-to-face sales activities at pharmaceutical companies have declined, and alternative sales activities are increasing online. From academic papers provided by the company to light-looking articles created by the company. Pharmaceutical officials are working hard to maintain relationships with hospital doctors. But behind these phenomena lies the pressure that salespeople must meet their current goals during their telecommuting work, as well as their admiration for proving sales to the company. According to the pharmaceutical industry, COVID-19 is showing signs of spread across the country. The meeting between the pharmaceutical company representative and the hospital doctor is virtually suspended. Currently, most hospitals forbid the entry of pharmaceutical company Staff because they are concerned about the spread of infectious diseases. The Korean Medical Practitioners Association, a group of clinic-level doctors, sent a letter to the Korea Pharmaceutical Bio Association and the KRPIA on the 20th requesting refusal to visit sales representatives. Since a clinic has been banned from entering a pharmaceutical company, there are a growing number of pharmaceutical companies that choose to work from home. A number of multinational pharmaceutical companies, including Amgen Korea, Pfizer Korea, Novartis Korea, MSD Korea, and Roche Korea, have started working from home. Among domestic pharmaceutical companies, LG Chem, GC Pharma, CJ Healthcare, Jeil Pharm, Dong-wha Pharm, Hanmi Pharm, etc., have been working from home in full or some sales employees. As of the 24th, when the government upgraded the stage of infectious disease crisis to "severe" and delayed the opening of kindergartens and schools, more pharma companies returned to work at home. Separately, on the 25th, the building was closed at LS Yongsan Tower, located in Yongsan, Seoul, and the entire building was closed. GSK, Jansen Korea, and Johnson & Johnson Korea, which are in this building, have been working at home. As the path to face-to-face doctors is blocked, pharmaceutical company managers are turning to online sales activities. The easiest way is to deliver the company-provided academic materials and data to your doctor by kakao talk or text. Some pharmaceutical companies have been developing and operating online platforms to deliver academic information about their products to medical professionals even before the incident. For example, HMP, a medical portal site for Hanmi Pharm, and 'Smart e-Catalog' recently developed by JW Shinyak. Salespeople can easily communicate product information by sending them a link with product details that might be of interest to their major. Further sales staff are appealing to doctors with their own videos or content during their internal and telecommuting hours. Some officials are using relationships that aren't necessarily academic information to keep doctors in touch with fun videos and short humor. A pharmaceutical sales representative said, "There aren't many things we can do at home. We can call a member of the parliament and ask if there is anything they need". Another pharmaceutical company official said, "It's difficult to meet, so it's a trend to send various messages to physicians. Among them, a person who makes a funny video well responds well to doctors". Many of the companies that have switched from outside work to at home also offer internal training for sales. Among them, related product training is not enough to fill the time, so it is recommended to produce the video for each team. This alternative is for the salesperson to imprint himself and the pharmaceutical company to the doctor under the face-to-face prohibition and maintain a good relationship. After that, the company's policy is to maintain the sales staff's monthly sales target and pharmacy's quota as usual even after making a telecommuting work. Along with the net function of alternative operations, the counter function is also being discussed. This is because some of the intentions to focus on sales are regarded as the high pollution of kakaotalk. Salespeople are also sharing the know-how that light and pleasant messages are more effective than heavy academic information. A pharmaceutical salesman said, "work from home was decided, but my goal is the same. Even if I work at home, I feel uncomfortable, so I have no choice but to keep my prescription on the phone or kakaotalk, I can prove to your manager that you worked at that time".
