Pharmbio Korea said on Friday that the company has signed an exclusive supply license agreement for TYMLOS (ingredient name abaloparatide), an osteoporosis treatment of U.S. biopharmaceutical company Radius Health.

Osteoporosis is a medical condition that occurs when bones become brittle and fragile from loss of tissue, typically as a result of hormonal changes, or a deficiency of calcium or vitamin D. Although the disease can occur at any age, it is most commonly associated with age-related diseases among older populations due to the reduction of lubricating fluids in the joints causing bone degradation.

A Statistics Korea report showed last year that 16.5 percent of Koreans were 65 years or older, brightening the marketing prospect of this drug in this rapidly aging country, a company official said.

Radius Health’s TYMLOS is a new drug that promotes bone formation approved in the U.S. for the first time in 15 years. The company released it in the U.S. market in 2017 and the Japanese market in 2019 after obtaining the approval of their respective regulatory agency.

TYMLOS has won the approval as a treatment, especially for osteoporosis for postmenopausal women with a high risk of fracture in the U.S. Thanks to its high effectiveness and safety, the drug accounts for half of the U.S. bone formation promoter market.

"TYMLOS is a drug that has already proven effective, safe, and marketable in America," Pharmbio Korea Chairman Nam Bong-gil said. "We will present a new paradigm for the bone formation promoter market by providing new treatment options for Koreans with osteoporosis."