Daewoong Pharmaceutical’s sales of prescription drugs have expanded significantly this year.

In April, Daewoong’s revenue from prescription drugs exceeded 70 billion won ($55.69 million).

Accumulated sales in the first four months of 2022 recorded 267.5 billion won, up 14.3 percent from the same period of last year.

Excluding the sales of Nexium, a gastroesophageal reflux disease treatment, for which AstraZeneca's co-promotion ended in December last year, the cumulative sales between January and April increased 22 percent year-on-year. This showed that the company’s prescription drug sales were growing rapidly.

An official at Daewoong attributed the prescription drug sales growth to the continued expansion of existing blockbuster drugs, growth of self-manufactured items, and the company’s leadership in “data-driven medicines.”

Daewoong maintains successful partnerships with various local and foreign companies to steadily raise sales of conventional blockbuster drugs. The company also sells self-manufactured products such as digestive medicines Nexierd and Axid and endocrine agents like Crezet and Litorvazet.

For the first time in the local pharmaceutical industry, Daewoong introduced wearable devices such as FreeStyle Libre, a continuous blood glucose meter, and MobiCARE, an electrocardiogram monitor. The company also released Well Check, an app to monitor chronic diseases, leading to data-driven medicine trends.

In the second half of this year, the company plans to roll out Fexuclue (fexuprazan hydrochloride), a GERD drug. The treatment is the nation’s 34th novel drug. The market release of Fexuclue is expected to boost the sales of Daewoong’s prescription medicines.

As Fexuclue improved symptoms faster than existing proton pump inhibitor (PPI)-based treatments and Daewoong has broad experience in sales and marketing, Daewoong may secure a larger market share immediately after the release of Fexuclue, industry watchers said.