Samil Pharmaceutical, a Korean drugmaker, is expanding its business in the central nervous system (CNS) field after acquiring domestic sales rights for Sandoz Korea's products.

Earlier in May, Sandoz, a Novartis' generics and biosimilars business unit, said it will wind down its Korean operations. At that time, Sandoz Korea had said it made an internal announcement to its employees that it has decided to change its business model in Korea and will only operate until June 30.

With its decision to pull out of the country, Sandoz Korea also said it has signed an exclusive distribution and sales agreement with Samil for its products.

As a result, Samil will market Sandoz's product starting from Saturday this week.

As of February 2023, Sandoz Korea has 41 items approved in Korea. The main generic items are products for chronic diseases such as hypertension, heart failure, and hyperlipidemia, and anticancer and narcotic drugs such as paclitaxel and zolpidem.

Of the 41, Samil will market 13 drugs, including seven CNS drugs, including Mirtax and Zolpidem, anticancer drug Hycamtin, cardiovascular drug Ampibesyl, anti-nausea drug Zofran, antihistamine drug Zaditen, hormone drug Parlodel, and antibiotic Zinnat.

By using these products, Samil plans to strengthen its recently expanded CNS business further.

The company had previously created a new CNS division to expand its CNS lineup, combining its existing neurology team with psychiatry-based products in 2021.

As a result, Samil expects little to no difficulty in marketing Sandoz Korea's products.

Industry watchers are closely watching if Samil will be able to push past the 200 billion won ($153.2 million) annual sales mark for the first time in its history.

Last year, Samil posted sales of 179.6 billion won, which was a record-high figure.