SK Chemicals releases Italfarmaco's Lou Gehrig's treatment

SK Chemicals said it launched Italfarmaco's Teglutik Oral Suspension, a Lou Gehrig's disease treatment.

Lou Gehrig's disease can lead to paralysis of the limbs and respiratory muscles due to the gradual destruction of motor nerve cells.

As of 2022, there were 4,709 patients with Lou Gehrig's disease in Korea, with an average annual increase rate of 3.5 percent for the past five years.

Teglutic uses riluzole as an ingredient. SK Chemicals obtained item permission from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety for the treatment's efficacy and effectiveness in prolonging the survival period of Lou Gehrig's patients and delaying the time of tracheotomy in May of last year.

According to SK Chemicals, among the drugs released so far, no drugs cure Lou Gehrig's disease, and only treatments that slow down the symptoms such as Teglutik are in the market.

The company expects that Teglutik will be more helpful in the treatment of Lou Gehrig's disease by increasing the convenience of taking it compared to existing treatments as it is a suspension formulation.

"We expect that we will further enhance patients' convenience by introducing Teglutik, a treatment for Lou Gehrig's disease in a suspension formulation," said Park Hyun-sun, vice president of SK Chemicals' life science marketing planning division.