Natural substance-based medicines developed by local pharmaceutical companies showed sluggish sales in the first half of 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic and generic drug appearances.

According to UBIST, a pharmaceutical research firm, among the six natural substance drugs --Joins, Motilitone, Stillen, Synatura, Layla, and Shinbaro --, five drugs, except Motilitone, saw their sales decrease compared to the previous year.

Ahngook Pharmaceutical's Synatura prescription amount fell 38.8 percent to 8 billion won ($6.7 million) in the first half compared to the same period last year. Synatura is a natural medicine made with active ingredients extracted from the herbal ingredients, yellow lily, and ivy leaves, and treats cough, phlegm, and bronchitis.

Ahngook saw its sales fall 53.8 percent in just two years. The company recorded 17.3 billion won in sales for Synatura in 2019.

Industry experts said that the prolonged Covid-19 pandemic played a major role in lowering the sales of Synatura. Since the spread of Covid-19, the use of drugs to treat cough and phlegm has plummeted as the number of flu and cold patients decreased due to strengthening personal hygiene such as hand washing and wearing a mask.

Dong-A ST's gastritis treatment Stillen also showed weak sales in the first half-year. During that period, the company recorded total prescription sales of 9.9 billion won for Stillen and Stillen2X, down 17.8 percent from a year ago.

Prescriptions for Stillen2X fell 15.3 percent from the previous year to 6.2 billion won in the first half, and Stillen recorded 3.7 billion won in the first half, down 18.7 percent of the prior year. Styrene is a natural medicinal product made from mugwort-based artemisia herbal medicine.

According to industry experts, the decrease in sales is a severe blow to Dong-A ST because the company could expand its market share as the anti-ulcer drug ranitidine was withdrawn from the market due to the impurity concern at the end of September 2019.

However, Stillen has failed to take its place as the local prescription market shrunk due to the Covid-19 outbreak, and proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) have filled the gap instead of Stillen.

Besides, overheated market competition with about 100 companies selling Stillen generics contributed to the sluggishness of the drug.

PMG Pharmaceutical's osteoarthritis treatment Layla is also showing sluggish sales due to fierce competition from generic products. Layla is an osteoarthritis treatment containing 12 herbal ingredients such as dong quai and acanthopanax.

Layla's prescription in the first half was 5.6 billion won, down 4.6 percent from the same period last year.

GC's osteoarthritis treatment Shinbaro recorded 5.1 billion won in prescriptions in the first half, down 13.9 percent from the previous year. SK Chemicals' osteoarthritis treatment Joins also saw a slight decrease in prescriptions in the first half compared to last year.

Dong-A ST's Motiritone prescription was the only natural substance-based drug that saw an increase in sales.

Motiritone's sales amounted to 13.8 billion won in the first half, up slightly from the previous year. Motiritone is a functional dyspepsia treatment agent made from natural ingredients obtained from acanthopanax and common corydalis.