Dong-A ST is strengthening its position in the toenail athlete's foot treatment market with Jublia, which recently added long-term clinical data to its advantage list, the company said Wednesday.
The drug, developed by Japan's Kaken Pharmaceutical in 2014, is the only paste-form nail fungal infection treatment, also known as nail athlete's foot, approved in Korea as an ETC (Ethical the Counter) -- or prescription-based -- drug.
It has also received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
In a 72-week long-term clinical trial on moderate patients suffering from a nail athlete's foot, the complete treatment rate was 34.5 percent, and the treatment showed the full recovery rate of 25 percent in severe patients, confirming the similar efficacy to the conventional oral drugs. The trial was conducted in the United States, Canada and Japan.
The fungal treatment rate was 66.9 percent for moderate patients, and 52.5 percent for severe patients.
The treatment rate tended to increase in proportion to the treatment period within the 72 weeks. "It is difficult to cure nation athlete’s foot in a short time, so many patients need long-term treatment," said Lee Ji-seon, head of Dong-A ST's academic medicine division. "Despite long-term prescriptions, the incidence rate of side effects was low at 6.4 percent, ensuring the safety of the drug."
Lee also stressed the drug's effect on improving the quality of life for patients.
"Nail athlete's foot affects the patient both psychologically and physically, lowering the quality of life," she said. "The clinical trial used the OnyCOE-t indicator to determine the quality of life, and the result showed that the drug improved the quality of life on all indicators."
Such benefits have allowed Jublia to achieve the largest market share in the market, with 30 billion won ($25.9 million) in accumulated sales since its launch in June of 2017.
"Jublia is a drug that is effective, safe, and convenient, and has changed the domestic market since its launch," said Jung Kyung-taek, product manager for Jublia at Dong-A ST. "Our company will continue to accumulate various research data so that it can continue to achieve success."