Daewoong Pharmaceutical held a symposium on Fexuclue, titled “The new wave of GERD (gastroesophageal reflux disease) Treatment,” on Thursday at its headquarters in Samseong-dong, southern Seoul.
Thirty-eight “key opinion leaders” from overseas, including the leadership of the Philippine gastrointestinal society and Korean medical professionals, attended the workshop.
Lee Kuk-rae, head of the Gastrointestinal Disease Center at Seoul National University Boraemae Hospital, chaired the symposium after an opening with the welcoming speech by Cho Joong-youn, head of Daewoong Pharmaceutical Global Operational Center.
The symposium composed of three sessions: “P-CAB’s (potassium-competitive acid blockers) clinical viewpoint and rule in the Covid-19 era” led by Diana Payawal, a professor of gastrointestinal medicine at the Cardinal Santos Medical Center; “The new wave of GERD treatment led by Ahn Ji-yong, a professor of gastrointestinal medicine at Asan Medical Center: and “Changes in GERD guidelines and clinical experiences with the appearance of P-CAB drugs led by Kim Yong-seong, a professor of Wonkwang University College of Medicine.
Besides, the participants discussed how to include clinical practice guidelines and P-CAB drugs currently used in the Philippines in treatment methods.
“It was a good opportunity to update information and treatment option on the management of GERD,” said Michael John Oliman, a gastrointestinal specialist at the St. Luke’s Medical Center. “I look forward to a day when I can prescribe Fexuclue with superior efficacy to the existing treatments in the Philippines.”
Daewoong won approval for Fexuclue from the Philippine FDA on Nov. 3, about eight months after it submitted a new drug application (NDA), and aims to launch it in the Southeast Asian country next year.
According to market researcher IQVIA Global MIDAS, the Philippine antiulcer drug market was estimated at 80 billion won ($60.3 million) last year.
Daewoong launched Fexuclue, its latest GERD treatment, in Korea this past July.
It has two indications – treating erosive gastroesophageal reflux disease (40 mg) and improving gastric mucosal lesions of acute and chronic gastritis (10 mg). Fexuclue is the only drug with the latter indication among P-CAB therapies in Korea.
“Daewoong’s winning of approval for Fexuclue in the Philippines is significant in speeding up the drug’s global advance,” said Daewoo Pharmaceutical CEO Jeon Seng-ho. “We have signed the technology export contracts worth 1.2 trillion won with 15 countries, are pushing to submit NDAs to 10 countries by 2025, and are focusing on its sales in more than 100 countries by 2020.”