Daewoong Pharmaceutical's 'NBL' Simultaneously Enters 7 Countries in Latin America and Russia... Targeting a 7 Trillion Won Market

Daewoong Pharmaceutical's diabetes treatment drug Enblo. Photo by Enblo

Domestic new drug No. 36 for diabetes treatment, 'Enblo,' is expanding its presence in the global market.

Daewoong Pharmaceutical announced on the 18th that it has recently completed the approval applications for Enblo (active ingredient: Inavogliflozin) in a total of seven countries, including six Latin American countries?Costa Rica, Honduras, the Dominican Republic, Panama, El Salvador, Guatemala?and Russia.

Enblo is the first SGLT-2 inhibitor class diabetes treatment developed domestically by Daewoong Pharmaceutical. SGLT-2 inhibitors work by suppressing the reabsorption of glucose and sodium in the kidneys, promoting their direct excretion through urine. This mechanism not only provides excellent blood sugar control but also shows potential for managing blood pressure, kidney function, heart health, and body weight, thus presenting a new paradigm in diabetes treatment.

In particular, Enblo has attracted global attention as studies have consecutively demonstrated its superior effects compared to the global competitor dapagliflozin in four key indicators: glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c), fasting blood glucose, urinary glucose excretion rate (UGCR), and insulin resistance (HOMA-IR).

After obtaining the first overseas product approval for Enblo in Ecuador last year, Daewoong Pharmaceutical has additionally completed approval applications in Latin American countries. Furthermore, by applying for product approval in Russia, the company is actively pursuing expansion into the Eurasian market following Latin America. Russia serves as a key market setting standards for the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), and obtaining approval there is expected to facilitate further entry into countries such as Kazakhstan and Belarus.

With this, Enblo has entered a cumulative total of 19 countries globally. The recent approval applications in seven countries are regarded as a significant turning point in Daewoong Pharmaceutical’s 'Global 1 Product 1 Trillion Won' strategy, which aims to expand Enblo into 30 countries by 2030.

According to the pharmaceutical market research firm IQVIA, as of 2023, the diabetes treatment market size in Latin America is approximately KRW 5.6907 trillion, and the Russia and CIS region is about KRW 1.2 trillion. Combined, this represents a large market of around KRW 7 trillion, which Daewoong Pharmaceutical is targeting for its global expansion.

Notably, the SGLT-2 inhibitor segment, to which Enblo belongs, is showing remarkable growth. The Latin American SGLT-2 inhibitor market grew 99% from KRW 603.3 billion in 2021 to KRW 1.2011 trillion in 2023, while the Russia and CIS market expanded 142% from KRW 136.3 billion to KRW 330 billion during the same period, demonstrating rapid market growth.

Park Sung-soo, CEO of Daewoong Pharmaceutical, stated, "The global expansion of Enblo goes beyond mere market growth; it is meaningful in providing innovative diabetes treatments to patients worldwide. Starting with the first approval in Ecuador, we will strengthen Enblo’s position in the Latin American and Russian markets and focus all our company’s capabilities to achieve the goal of entering 30 countries by 2030."