The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) has approved Abbott Korea’s Acarizax, a house dust mite sublingual allergy treatment. The ministry posted its approval of the drug on its website on Tuesday.

Acarizax is a drug used in the treatment of allergic rhinitis caused by house dust mite, which is not controlled by medication, in adults and children aged 12 years and over. It also treats allergic asthma caused by house dust mites that are not controlled by other conventional drugs in adults.

The approval comes two years after Abbott Laboratories, a U.S.-based healthcare company, signed an exclusive rights contract with ALK-Abello, a Danish allergy company and original developer of the drug, in 2016. Under the agreement, Abbott is in charge of registering, selling and distributing the product in Korea, Hong Kong, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, and Thailand.

The drug has also received regulatory approval in about 20 countries, such as the U.S., Canada, Japan, Germany, France and Australia.

According to the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service, the number of patients with allergic rhinitis is increasing in Korea. The number increased from 6.3 million in 2014 to 6.7 million in 2016.

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