- Opinion
- [Reporter's View] ‘Tyranny of Drug Committees persist'
- by Eo, Yun-Ho Sep 11, 2024 05:54am
- Even after a drug is approved by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety and listed for reimbursement, the drug cannot be prescribed immediately by medical staff at general hospitals. A drug can only be prescribed at each hospital after a prescription code is generated upon review by their respective drug committees (DCs). The process, in
- Opinion
- [Reporter’s View] Vaccine sovereignty only during epidemics
- by Son, Hyung-Min Sep 5, 2024 05:51am
- The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency recently announced that it will support messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) vaccines in preparation for the next pandemic. The government will support research and development from preclinical to Phase III trials, focusing on companies with the potential to localize mRNA vaccine platforms. Ca
- Opinion
- [Reporter's View] pros and cons of concurrent reimb listing
- by Eo, Yun-Ho Aug 30, 2024 05:49am
- When there are no changes to demand, increased supply reduces prices. This model of price determination can be applied to the pharmaceutical market. For pharmaceuticals, inducing competition between pharmaceutical companies can decrease financial expenses. However, it often results in increased time for reimbursement listing. Drug price
- Opinion
- [Reporter’s View]Support domestic COVID-19 drugs
- by Lee, Hye-Kyung Aug 28, 2024 05:52am
- The recurrence of COVID-19 has sparked interest in COVID-19 drugs. After the pandemic turned into an endemic, the government set a budget of KRW 179.8 billion for COVID-19 drugs this year, which was a 53.2% cut from last year, and the number of COVID-19 drugs introduced in Q1 and Q2 of this year was 179,000, half of the 341,000 that the gove
- Opinion
- [Reporter’s View]Gov’t disappointing response to COVID-19
- by Son, Hyung-Min Aug 23, 2024 06:18am
- COVID-19 is spreading rapidly in Korea. Currently, the variant leading the COVID-19 pandemic is KP.3 of the Omicron family. The spread of COVID-19 has been in full swing since the end of June, and the number of hospitalized patients in the 2nd week of this month reached 1,366, recording the highest this year. In the last four weeks, the n
- Opinion
- [Reporter's View] Delays in medication switching for eczema
- by Eo, Yun-Ho Aug 13, 2024 05:48am
- When patients switch from their current medication to a different medication, the switched products are not covered by insurance reimbursement. This non-reimbursed status of medication switching has been a long-standing issue in South Korea. The field most impacted is atopic dermatitis. Treatment options had been limited for atopic derma
- Opinion
- [Column] On patent strategies post Amgen v. Sanofi dispute
- by Kim, Jin-Gu Aug 12, 2024 05:55am
- One of the most significant events that occurred in the bio-pharmaceutical sector in recent years was the ruling made on the Amgen vs. Sanofi patent dispute in the United States. In May last year, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its final ruling on the patent dispute between the two biotech giants. The case received special attention, as t
- Opinion
- [Reporter's View] Fostering Korea’s Pharma-Bio industry
- by Hwang, Byung-woo Aug 9, 2024 03:11am
- "Realistically speaking, it is not easy for the domestic pharmaceutical and bio industry to stand out in the global market. It's time we set a specific and clear direction and strategy." An industry expert with over 20 years of experience in pharmaceuticals in the U.S. who is currently serving as an advisor to government agencies in Korea
- Opinion
- [Reporter's View] govt's foreign drug price comparisons
- by Kim, Jin-Gu Aug 8, 2024 09:24am
- The pharmaceutical industry's concerns grow over the government's plan to reevaluate foreign drug price comparisons. The government has established a policy to reduce domestic drug prices by comparing them to those in 'A8 countries (United States·Japan·Germany·France·Italy·Switzerland·Canada).' As the policy is set to be effective,
- Opinion
- [Reporter’s View] More legislation needed for CSO reporting
- by Lee, Jeong-Hwan Aug 1, 2024 05:48am
- The enforcement of the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act, which requires Contract Sales Organizations (CSOs) to report to local governments and educate their employees on the prohibition of rebates, is now 2 months away. The pharmaceutical and CSO industries are hoping the implementation of the reporting system will serve as a milestone to incre
