Daewoong Pharmaceutical Holds 'Pexuclu' Symposium with Medical Staff from the Philippines and Korea

Daewoong Pharmaceutical Pexuclu Symposium. [Photo by Daewoong Pharmaceutical]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-joo] Daewoong Pharmaceutical announced on the 25th that it held a symposium on the new drug for gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), 'Pexuclu,' with 38 overseas key opinion leaders including the president of the Philippine Society of Gastroenterology and domestic medical staff participating.

The symposium was chaired by Lee Guk-rae, head of the Gastroenterology Center at Boramae Hospital, and featured three sessions: ▲Clinical perspectives and roles of P-CAB in the COVID-19 era (Professor Diana Payawal, Department of Gastroenterology, Cardinal Santos Medical Center) ▲A new wave in the treatment of gastroesophageal reflux disease (Professor An Ji-yong, Department of Gastroenterology, Seoul Asan Medical Center) ▲Changes in GERD guidelines and clinical experience following the emergence of P-CAB agents (Professor Kim Yong-sung, Adjunct Professor at the Institute of Gastrointestinal Diseases, Wonkwang University College of Medicine).

Additionally, there was a discussion on the current clinical practice guidelines for gastroesophageal reflux disease in the Philippines and how to include P-CAB (potassium-competitive acid blockers) agents as a treatment method.

Daewoong Pharmaceutical obtained approval about eight months after submitting the New Drug Application (NDA) to the Philippines FDA on the 3rd of this month, aiming for a local launch next year. According to the pharmaceutical market research firm IQVIA Global MIDAS, the size of the anti-ulcer drug market in the Philippines was approximately 80 billion KRW last year.

Pexuclu is a new drug for gastroesophageal reflux disease that Daewoong Pharmaceutical officially launched domestically in July. It improves on the shortcomings of existing PPIs (proton pump inhibitors) by binding to the proton pump without activation by gastric acid, thereby inhibiting acid secretion quickly and stably. The approved indications include ▲treatment of erosive gastroesophageal reflux disease (40 mg) and ▲improvement of gastric mucosal lesions in acute and chronic gastritis (10 mg), totaling two indications. Notably, Pexuclu is the only P-CAB drug approved for gastritis in Korea.

Jeon Seung-ho, CEO of Daewoong Pharmaceutical, said, "Pexuclu has currently signed technology export contracts worth about 1.2 trillion KRW with 15 countries globally, and we are sequentially submitting NDAs aiming for approval and launch in 10 countries by 2025." He added, "We are focusing our company-wide capabilities to launch in more than 100 countries worldwide by 2030."