Locally developed new drugs showed mixed performances in prescriptions in the first half.

According to data on 14 new domestic drugs analyzed by U-BIST, a pharmaceutical market researcher, novel drugs targeting chronic diseases such as diabetes sold well, while anticancer remedies did not.

The total prescriptions of the 14 drugs amounted to 108.2 billion won ($95.2 million) in the first half of this year, up 21.4 percent from 89.1 billion won a year earlier.

LG Chem’s Zemimet, a combo of antidiabetic treatment Zemiglo and metformin, topped the prescription sales among the 14 novel drugs. Zemimet sold 26.6 billion won in the first half, a 27.8 percent jump compared to 20.8 billion won sales in the same period last year.

Monotherapy Zemiglo’s prescriptions reached 14.9 billion won in the first half, up 4.8 percent from 14.2 billion won a year earlier. The treatment maintained its status as a domestically developed new drug with successful commercialization.

Boryung Pharmaceutical’s antihypertensive treatment Kanarb sold 19.4 billion won in the first half, inching up 1.8 percent from 19.1 billion won a year earlier.

A combo therapy Dukarb, mixing Kanarb and amlodipine, achieved substantial growth. Its prescriptions spiked 102.5 percent to 7.8 billion won in the first half from 3.8 billion won a year earlier.

Il-yang Pharmaceutical’s antiulcer drug Noltec saw its prescriptions go up 11.7 percent to 12 billion won in the first half from 10.8 billion won a year earlier. Daewon Pharmaceutical’s Pelnubi, an anti-inflammatory painkiller, also enjoyed a significant sales growth with its prescriptions more than doubling to 11.7 billion won in the first half from 5.2 billion won a year earlier.

Dong-A ST’s DPP-4 (dipeptidyl peptidase-4) inhibitor Suganon, which treats diabetes, recorded 2.1 billion won prescriptions in the first half, up 22.7 percent from 1.7 billion won a year earlier.

In contrast, many other local new drugs suffered prescription declines.

CrystalGenomics’ Acelex, an NSAID (nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug)-class osteoarthritis treatment, marked a 17.1 percent fall in prescriptions to 2.2 billion won in the first half from 2.6 billion won a year earlier.

Bukwang Pharm’s hepatitis B treatment Levovir sold 683 million won, down 24.3 percent from 902 million won a year earlier. Sales of Revanex, a remedy for ulcers by Yuhan Corp., slid 25.9 percent to 589 million won from 794 million won during the same period.

Il-yang’s anticancer medicine Supect is also struggling, especially since the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety’s central pharmaceutical affairs advisory committee discussed deleting the drug’s second-line indication for chronic myelogenous leukemia.

Supect’s prescriptions plunged by 13.5 percent to 410 million won in the first half from 474 million won a year earlier. If Il-yang fails to add a strong point to Supect against rival drugs such as BMS’ Sprycel and Novartis’ Tasigna, Supect sales may not bounce back, analysts said.

“Chronic diseases treatments can perform well if combined with sales power because they are almost always prescribed despite low insurance prices,” an official at a drugmaker said. “However, when we assess local new drugs, we have to consider their global growth potential rather than sales. It is important to make an environment where various drugs can arrive in the market.”

sjh@docdocdoc.co.kr

<© Korea Biomedical Review, All rights reserved.>