An Era of 1 Million Depression Patients... Pharmaceutical Companies Actively Developing Treatments

Sharp Increase in Depression Patients After COVID-19

Movement to Launch New Mechanism Therapeutics
Reducing Side Effects Compared to Existing Antidepressants

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The number of depression patients in South Korea has rapidly surpassed one million, prompting pharmaceutical companies to actively develop more effective treatments.

Depression occurs when levels of neurotransmitters in the brain, such as serotonin and norepinephrine, decrease. Treatments work by regulating the imbalance of these substances to improve depressive symptoms, and are classified by mechanism of action into tricyclic antidepressants, monoamine oxidase inhibitors, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, and serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors. However, each type has drawbacks such as side effects including drowsiness, headaches, insomnia, and sexual dysfunction.

According to industry sources on the 4th, recently, treatments that enhance antidepressant effects or reduce side effects through new mechanisms have been gaining attention. In South Korea, two companies, Bukwang Pharmaceutical and Daewoong Pharmaceutical, are moving quickly.

Bukwang Pharmaceutical applied for approval of the new drug Latuda tablets (active ingredient lurasidone) for schizophrenia and bipolar depression treatment to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety last October, and completed the application for drug insurance reimbursement on the 18th of last month. Latuda tablets, approved as a treatment for schizophrenia in 53 countries including the United States and the European Union (EU), are also approved in 20 countries for the treatment of adult type 1 bipolar depression. The main ingredient, lurasidone, has been reported to have lower metabolic side effects such as weight gain, dyslipidemia, and hyperglycemia compared to existing depression treatments. Developed by Japan’s Sumitomo Pharma, Latuda tablets have been under exclusive domestic licensing and development rights held by Bukwang Pharmaceutical since 2017. Bukwang Pharmaceutical expects Latuda tablets to generate annual domestic sales in the hundreds of billions of Korean won.

Daewoong Pharmaceutical is developing the multi-target based depression treatment ‘NR-0601’ in collaboration with the bio-venture company Neurolive. NR-0601 is an antidepressant derived by sending electrical signals to brain tissue to observe neuronal responses. It has at least nine multi-target mechanisms of action, and is evaluated to be more effective than existing treatments.

The new mechanism depression treatment Exua (active ingredient gepiron hydrochloride), which selectively targets serotonin 1A receptors, received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on the 28th of last month, expanding patient options. It is characterized by enhanced therapeutic effects while reducing the incidence of sexual dysfunction and weight gain.

For patients who experience side effects or low efficacy from antidepressants, electronic medicine may be an option. Ybrain and Neurofit developed electronic medicine that treats depression by altering electrical signal transmission in the brain and received approval from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety in 2021. Currently, it is being preferentially prescribed at some hospitals and clinics for patients who have side effects or low efficacy with antidepressants.

According to the National Health Insurance Service, the number of diagnosed depression patients increased by 32.9%, from 752,976 in 2018 to 1,000,744 last year. This rise is attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic, which made social interactions difficult and significantly increased depression cases. Since the increase in depression patients is a global trend, the worldwide depression treatment market is expected to reach $15.983 billion (approximately 21 trillion KRW) this year, according to market research firm Allied Market Research. South Korea accounts for about 200 billion KRW of this market.

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