Handok said it has started developing a combination drug, mixing type-2 diabetes treatment Tenelia (teneligliptin) with dyslipidemia therapy atorvastatin. Tenelia is a dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) inhibitor.

Handok’s diabetes treatment Tenelia

The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety approved Handok to conduct a phase-1 trial on the Tenelia combo, MP-513.

The study will be a randomized, open-label, cross-design, and repeated-dose test to evaluate drug interactions between Tenelia and atorvastatin in healthy adult males.

Japan’s Mitsubishi Tanabe originally developed Tenelia. Handok produces, markets, and sells the treatment in the Korean market. Handok also owns the right and the patent to develop Tenelia combo drugs.

Tenelia arrived in Korea in 2015. Since the market release, sales of the antidiabetic drug have rapidly grown. Prescriptions of Tenelia surpassed the 10 billion won ($8.8 million) mark in September. Other 17 local pharmaceutical firms are preparing to release generic drugs of Tenelia.

Tenelia’s substance patent expires on October 25, 2022, and the base patent, on March 23, 2026. To avoid the patent of Tenelia, the 17 local drugmakers filed a request to the Intellectual Property Trial and Appeal Board (IPTAB) to confirm the scope of the patent.

lhs@docdocdoc.co.kr

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