Hypertension and Hyperlipidemia at Once... '4-in-1' Medication Receiving Love Calls Everywhere

Pharmaceutical Industry Focuses on Four-Ingredient Combination Drugs
Combination Drug Market Grows 33% in 5 Years

Hanmi Pharm 'Amozaltan' series.

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-joo] Competition within the domestic pharmaceutical industry is intensifying over the combination drug market, which incorporates multiple active ingredients into a single product. As the market for '4-combination' drugs, containing four major active ingredients, opens up beyond the existing '3-combination' drugs, mid-sized pharmaceutical companies are accelerating their efforts to target this new market.

According to the pharmaceutical industry on the 27th, Chong Kun Dang recently obtained approval for the 4-combination drug for hypertension and hyperlipidemia, 'Nuborojet Tablet.' Nuborojet is a 4-combination drug that contains telmisartan and esamlodipine for hypertension treatment, and rosuvastatin and ezetimibe for hyperlipidemia treatment, all in one pill, allowing simultaneous treatment of hypertension and dyslipidemia. Chong Kun Dang conducted a Phase 3 clinical trial involving 112 patients with essential hypertension and concomitant dyslipidemia to demonstrate the efficacy and safety of the drug.

The product that opened the 4-combination drug market is Hanmi Pharmaceutical's 'Amozaltan XQ.' Amozaltan XQ, the world's first 4-combination drug for hypertension and dyslipidemia treatment, contains amlodipine, losartan, rosuvastatin, and ezetimibe simultaneously and was launched in February last year. Through Amozaltan XQ, Hanmi Pharmaceutical expanded its lineup from existing 2-combination and 3-combination drugs such as Amozaltan and Amozaltan Plus to include a 4-combination drug. Subsequently, other leading domestic pharmaceutical companies have also begun developing 4-combination drugs one after another.

In May, Yuhan Corporation and GC Green Cross each obtained approval from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety for the 4-combination drugs 'Duowell A Plus' and 'Rozetelpine,' respectively. Both products combine telmisartan, amlodipine, rosuvastatin, and ezetimibe into a 4-combination drug and are expected to be officially launched in the second half of this year after undergoing procedures such as health insurance reimbursement registration. Jeil Pharmaceutical also obtained approval this month for 'Telmican Q,' a product commissioned by Yuhan Corporation, bringing the total number of approved 4-combination drugs in Korea to five. Additionally, Daewoong Pharmaceutical (DWJ1451) and Ildong Pharmaceutical (ID14009) are preparing to launch their products.

The reason 4-combination drugs are gaining attention is due to the tendency of chronic diseases to appear in combination. Half of hypertension patients also have dyslipidemia, and 60% of diabetes patients are known to have hypertension. Previously, hypertension and dyslipidemia medications were taken separately, but combination drugs offer the advantage of minimizing patients' medication inconvenience.

For this reason, the combination drug market is steadily growing. Based on health insurance claims data from the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service, the combination drug market increased by about 33% over five years, from 2.9874 trillion KRW in 2017 to 3.9896 trillion KRW last year. A pharmaceutical industry official said, "Because taking individual drugs is inconvenient, the commercialization of effective combination drugs can help improve patients' quality of life," adding, "With the launch of officially approved products and new products under development, the release of 4-combination drugs is expected to continue for the time being."

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