Two Korean-made treatments, Rolvedon by Hanmi Pharm for neutropenia and Xcopri by SK Biopharmaceuticals for epilepsy, have shown significant sales growth in the first quarter in the U.S.

According to Hanmi, Rolvedon posted sales of $15.62 million (20.8 billion won) in the U.S. in the first three months, up 54 percent from the previous quarter.

Spectrum Pharmaceuticals obtained the product permit for Rolvedon from the U.S. FDA in September of last year and put it on the market the following month.

Spectrum has recorded cumulative Rolvedon sales of $25.73 million in just two quarters after its market launch.

Hanmi said that the number of clients is also growing significantly.

"Rolvedon was purchased by 172  clients in the first quarter, a 145 percent increase from 70 in the fourth quarter of last year," Hanmi said.

Notably, last month, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), which controls U.S. public insurance, added Rolvedon to the U.S. public insurance reimbursement list with a permanent reimbursement J-code of J1449, the company added.

Hanmi explained that this meant a more stable prescription environment has been created, which is expected to be a catalyst for future sales expansion.

Sales of SK Biopharmaceuticals' Xcopri have also continued to expand.

The drug received approval from the FDA in November 2019. It was the first Korean drug to score FDA approval with the entire drug development process from candidate discovery to clinical trials and approval conducted under a Korean company.

Xcopri's U.S. sales in the first quarter of this year totaled 53.9 billion won, an increase of about 8.2 percent compared to the fourth-quarter sales at 49.8 billion won. The quarterly revenue marked the 12th consecutive quarter of growth since the company officially launched the drug in the U.S. in May 2020.

Prescriptions are also on the rise. In the first quarter of this year, the number of actual prescriptions was more than 55,000, a 10 percent increase from the previous quarter.

The drug has shown almost twice the number of prescriptions compared to the competing drugs in March, SK Biopharmaceuticals said.

To expand U.S. prescriptions, SK Biopharmaceuticals plans to focus on sales and marketing by improving the incentive system for local sales representatives and expanding sales targets from epilepsy specialists to general neurologists.