Daewoong Pharmaceutical Licenses GERD Treatment Technology to China... Worth 380 Billion KRW

[Asia Economy Reporter Chunhee Lee] Daewoong Pharmaceutical's new drug for gastroesophageal reflux disease, 'Fexuprazan,' will be exported to China.

Daewoong Pharmaceutical announced on the 18th that it has signed a license-out and supply agreement for Fexuprazan with Shanghai Haini, a subsidiary of Yangtze River Pharmaceutical Group in China.

The contract is worth approximately 380 billion KRW. This includes a technology fee of about 20.4 billion KRW, which consists of an upfront payment of 6.8 billion KRW and milestone payments totaling 13.6 billion KRW. Through this contract, Shanghai Haini will conduct clinical development and approval of Fexuprazan in China. Subsequently, the parent company, Yangtze River Pharmaceutical Group, will handle sales. Yangtze River Pharmaceutical Group is one of the top pharmaceutical companies in China, having ranked first for several years on the 'Top 100 Chinese Pharmaceutical Industry Chart' and recorded the highest local sales in 2019 according to IQVIA data.

Fexuprazan is a new drug for gastroesophageal reflux disease developed independently by Daewoong Pharmaceutical. It is a P-CAB agent that reversibly blocks proton pumps that secrete gastric acid in the stomach lining. Currently, the most sold ingredient in the Chinese gastric acid secretion inhibitor market, which is worth about 3.5 trillion KRW, is the PPI agent 'Omeprazole,' with sales around 700 billion KRW. Fexuprazan has proven through clinical trials that it improves symptoms faster and its effects last longer than this ingredient.

Fexuprazan showed immediate improvement in heartburn symptoms regardless of day or night from the initial administration. It also improved cough symptoms, which are one of the atypical symptoms of gastroesophageal reflux disease. Especially, when administered to patients with severe symptoms, it was confirmed that three times more patients showed improvement in heartburn symptoms compared to the control group receiving Esomeprazole.

Hyunjin Park, Head of Global Business Division at Daewoong Pharmaceutical, said, "This contract is proof that the product power of Fexuprazan has been recognized by the top pharmaceutical company in China, the world's second-largest pharmaceutical market," and added, "Following last year's contracts in Mexico and Brazil, we will use this achievement as a stepping stone to expand the market worldwide, including the United States, Europe, and the Middle East."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.