HK inno.N and Daewoong Pharmaceutical are fiercely competing for the overseas advances of the P-CAB (potassium-competitive acid blocker) series of new treatments for gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD).

HK inno. N said Tuesday that its new GERD treatment K-CAB had won a permit from Mexico’s health ministry, COFEPRIS, with the local name of KI-CAB.

The company signed a contract with Laboratorios Carnot, a Mexican pharmaceutical company, to export K-CAB to 17 Latin American countries in 2018.

In Mexico, the drug has won four indications; treatment of erosiveGERD; treatment of non-erosive GERD; treatment of gastric ulcers; and antibiotic combination therapy for helicobacter pylori eradication in patients with peptic ulcer/chronic atrophic gastritis.

K-CAB is being exported to 35 countries, including China and the Philippines. Besides, Mongol, Indonesia, Singapore, and Mexico have approved it. Twenty-six countries are reviewing it and preparing to approve it. In addition, it is being developed locally in the U.S., Canada, and Brazil.

“With the approval in Mexico, the second-largest market in Latin America, K-CAB will further express its worth in Central and South America,” said HK inno. N CEO Kwak Dal-won. “We will expand markets to Europe and the Middle East to make it a global blockbuster.”

Daewoong Pharmaceutical won the approval for its new GERD treatment Fexuclue (fexuprazan hydrochloride), from Ecuador’s health regulator ARCSA on Feb. 3. It was the second overseas nod following one in the Philippines last November.

Daewoong has signed Fexuclue’s technology export contracts with 15 countries, including the U.S. and China, worth 1.2 trillion won ($1 billion). It has already advanced to four Southeast Asian countries through its local subsidiaries, increasing the number of countries where it has advanced to 19.

Daewoong has also submitted new drug applications (NDA) to 11 more countries, including Mexico, Brazil, Vietnam, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Chile, Colombia, Thailand, and Peru.

The company also plans to increase the number to 20 or more, including China, which has emerged as the biggest market for anti-ulcer drugs.

“We could win approval in Ecuador in a short period based on our accumulated global business experiences and know-how,” CEO Jeon Seung-ho said. “We will grow Fexuclue as a global blockbuster by advancing to 100 countries by 2027.”