Boryung signs deal to export new hypertension drug to SE Asia

Boryung Pharmaceutical CEO Choi Tae-hong, right, stands with Paul Geymayer, Asia-Pacific head of Sandoz, at the Sandoz regional office in Singapore after signing a contract to export Cilnidipine, a hypertension drug, to Southeast Asia, May 26. / Courtesy of Boryung Pharmaceutical

By Lee Kyung-min

Boryung Pharmaceutical has signed a deal with Sandoz, a generics division of Novartis, to export Cilnidipine, a hypertension drug, to six Southeast Asian countries for the next 10 years.

The company said Monday that it will have the license to exclusively supply the medicine to Thailand, the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, and Hong Kong through Sandoz.

The contract is expected to generate $73 million in revenue for Boryung during the period.

Cilnidipine is a calcium channel blocker (CCB) hypertension medicine and is currently sold in Japan, Korea, Vietnam and India. Boryung obtained the commercial rights to sell the drug from one of the co-developers, UCB Japan, in 2014, and can sell it around the world except for in Japan.

“We expect Cilnidipine will help Boryung expand its presence in the hypertension market in Southeast Asia as we have already introduced the angiotensin II receptor blocker (ARB) hypertension medicine, Kanarb and Kanarb PLUS to the market,” company CEO Choi Tae-hong said.

“This deal is meaningful in that we have already achieved globalization through our experience with exporting Kanarb,” Choi said, adding that Boryung will become the new model for Korean pharmaceutical companies’ advancement into the global market.

Cilnidipine is a fourth generation CCB hypertension drug which can block both L- and N-type calcium channels. So far, most of the CCB drugs have only blocked L-type channels to lower blood pressure. Cilnidipine prevents the increase of cardiac contractions and heart rate by blocking the N-type channel, according to Boryung.

“We expect synergy by selling the two products ― CCB and ARB hypertension drugs,” Choi said. “We’ll raise Boryung’s brand value in Southeast Asia.”

According to data collected in 2010 about the use of global medicine by IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics, the size of “Pharmerging countries,” meaning developing countries where the use of pharmaceuticals is rapidly growing, was $260 million last year, and is expected to grow by 7 percent annually to $380 million by 2020.