Hanmi Pharmaceutical said the company would start marketing its blockbuster hypertension drug Amosartan under the brand name Meiyaping in China in September. It marked the first homegrown blood pressure combination therapy to enter the Chinese market.

The launch follows Beijing Hanmi Pharmaceutical, Hanmi's Chinese subsidiary, receiving market approval for China's National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) treatment in March.

"The current high blood pressure market in China is highly competitive with various pharmaceutical companies entering the market. There are several barriers to entry, including the Chinese government's drug price cut policy," Beijing Hanmi Pharmaceutical CEO Yhim Hae-ryong said. "However, we will gradually increase our market share in the Chinese market by utilizing Beijing Hanmi Pharm's local marketing know-how in China and Hanmi Pharm's successful case of Amosartan."

The company will do its best to continue the success story of Amosartan in China, Yhim added.

Amosartan is a drug that combines the CCB (Calcium Channel Blockers)-based Amlodipine camsylate and the Angiotensin II Receptor Blocker (ARB)-based Losartan potassium. The company received approval for Amosartan 5/50mg and 5/100mg.

Hanmi has dominated the Korean hypertension market and has set a record of more than 1 trillion won ($813.8 million) in cumulative sales over the past decade with its Amosartan lineup, consisting of Amosartan, Amosartan Plus, Amosartan Q, and Amosartan XQ.

Amosartan has a solid evidence-based marketing foundation, with 14 related clinical research papers published in Science Citation Index (SCI)-level international journals.

According to the National Health Commission of the People's Republic of China, the prevalence of hypertension in Chinese is about 380 million, or 32 percent of the population over the age of 18, increasing rapidly every year.