The competition among drugmakers over non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants (NOAC) is getting ever more severe, as the NOAC became the latest trend in the blood thinner market.According to data from market researcher UBIST, prescriptions of major NOAC products jumped to 33.9 billion won ($29.
Sales of prescription medicines grew significantly in October, compared to the previous month, industry data showed Friday.The combined sales of top 30 prescription drugs amounted to 179.8 billion won ($158.9 million) in October, up 16.9 percent from 153.7 billion won in September, according to data from UBIST, a pharmaceutical market data research firm.All of the 30 products posted double
Pharmaceutical companies are intensively competing to promote their dementia treatments on the back of the government’s support for dementia patients.However, drug retailers and pharmacies are raising concerns that competition among too many dementia drugs might erode their profits.Since President Moon Jae-in said that the state would take more responsibility for treating dementia, sales o
Intron Biotechnology said it has signed a landmark deal for an investigational treatment for diseases caused by super bacteria. The biotech firm announced on Tuesday that it clinched the licensing-out deal with Roivant Sciences for SAL200, a novel biologic to combat super bacteria.The deal is worth $667.5 million (752.6 billion won), and Intron Bio is to separately receive running royaltie
Pharmaceutical shares rose on Monday on two licensing-out deals by mid-size drugmakers, after suffering declines for some time.Kolon Life Science inked a 670 billion won ($593.9 million) licensing-out deal to sell Invossa-K, an osteoarthritis treatment developed by subsidiary Kolon TissueGene, in Japan. CrystalGenomics clinched a 119.3 billion won contract to supply a novel medicine for degene
The stock trading suspension of Samsung BioLogics due to the alleged accounting fraud is likely to send shock waves to the entire pharmaceutical and biotech market, analysts said.The Securities and Futures Commission under the Financial Services Commission ruled on Wednesday that the contract drugmaker intentionally violated accounting rules to inflate the company’s value in 2015, before the i
While domestic pharmaceutical firms voluntarily withdrew patent suits against Pfizer’s anti-arthritis therapy Xeljanz (tofacitinib), Chong Kun Dang went ahead to apply for a bioequivalence test on a generic drug of the original medicine.Pfizer’s Xeljanz treats rheumatoid arthritis and musculoskeletal diseases, including rheumatism. The treatment drew attention as the first oral medicine for rh
Pharmaceutical industry officials are paying keen attention which companies will record more than 1 trillion won ($879.7 million) sales this year. Last year, Yuhan Corp., GC Pharma, and Kwangdong Pharmaceutical posted more than 1 trillion won revenue.Sources said Yuhan, GC, Celltrion, and Hanmi Pharmaceutical are likely to see their annual sales exceed 1 trillion won this year.Yuhan’s sale
Korea Vaccine has emerged as the center of controversy, as it is involved in the recent fire of low-cost dormitory-style building in Seoul, following a scandal concerning its import of arsenic-laced BSG vaccines from Japan. The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety recently ordered the recall of the entire patch of percutaneous BCG vaccines, after it detected an excessive level of arsenic in physio
Daewoong Pharmaceutical said it has expanded the indication of Nabota, the locally-developed botulinum toxin.The drug company said it won an additional approval from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety for Nabota Inj. 50 Unit’s indication of the wrinkles for the outer corner of the eyes on Tuesday. Nabota is the first botulinum toxin in Korea to obtain the nod for smoothening c
A Korean wholesaler has allegedly smuggled popular obesity drug Saxenda into China, industry sources said.Multiple sources said the Korean authorities are investigating a pharmaceutical wholesaler for allegedly selling the Novo Nordisk’s obesity treatment to China through an illegal channel.Novo Nordisk, the developer and the seller of Saxenda, said it was well aware of the situation and i
After failing to outrival Pfizer in the anti-smoking treatment market with a generic drug, Hanmi Pharmaceutical has released another copy to win over Pfizer’s original treatment Champix.The local drug company said it has started selling "Nocotine," a self-developed nicotine fighting treatment using oxalate as the base, from November.Nocotine uses varenicline oxalate hydrate as the main ing
Biois Corp. said it would utilize the government’s “technology exception policy” to get listed on the KOSDAQ market. The company designated Mirae Asset Daewoo as the leading underwriter. The technology exception policy allows easier listing for firms with technological potentials and growth prospects, even if they do not meet the sales requirement for listing. Companies that passed the fin
Korea’s biosimilar company Celltrion is likely to accelerate its move to expand its share in the Japanese breast cancer market. Celltrion said on Monday that it has won a patent suit involving Herzuma, a biosimilar product referencing Roche’s blockbuster breast cancer drug Herceptin, in Japan.Targeting the breast cancer treatment market in Japan, Celltrion has tried to invalidate Roche’s p
Why have Korean pharmaceutical companies released hair loss treatments in tablets instead of soft gelatine capsules?Dong-A ST, JW Pharmaceutical, and Hyundai Pharm recently rolled out tablets of generic copies of GSK’s Avodart (dutasteride), a treatment for enlarged prostate and hair loss. Advodart and MSD’s Propecia (finasteride) are two major treatments for hair loss in the domestic market.
Arrhythmia, caused by irregular pulses -- too fast (tachycardia), too slow (bradycardia) and unequal (atrial fibrillation) ones – are diseases that are especially difficult to diagnose. Doctors call it “silent assassin,” because the ailment accounts for 90 percent of sudden deaths and 20-30 percent of strokes. The problem is people have to wear electrocardiogram (ECG) for a long time for corre
Generic products are showing tremendous growth in the market of Donepezil, one of the most common drugs for dementia, industry watchers say. The combined prescription of eight products based on Donepezil component in the third quarter totaled 29.39 billion won ($25.75 million), up 9.4 percent year on year, according to Korea Biomedical Review’s analysis of a data at market survey firm Ubist.
“Original technologies are important for national development. We will develop original anticancer drugs to help Korea become a holder of original technologies in conquering cancer.”Such audacious aspiration came from Kim Hong-yeoul, CEO of Haim Bio, a developer of anticancer treatments. The company was established in September 2011 as “Celgene Bio” and changed the name to Haim Bio in 2015.
Multinational pharmaceutical giant Pfizer’s generic business in Korea is not out of the woods yet. According to outpatient prescription data at Ubist, a pharmaceutical market surveyor, major products of Pfizer Vitals, a generic arm of the giant company, continued to remain in doldrums in the third quarter. Leading the downward spiral was Norvasc V Tab., a high blood pressure medication that co
Pharmaceutical firm Handok allegedly encouraged pharmacists to carry out unlicensed medical practices during its promotional activities of Souvenaid, a new drink claiming to help treat dementia patients, a civic group said Thursday.According to Barun Medicine Institute, comprising of some 20 young physicians, Handok recently sent out a promotion report called “Dementia and Pharmacy” to healthc