Government’s policy support behind 8-times jump in 2 years

The sales of Champix, Pfizer Korea’s antismoking drug, entered into the 40 billion won ($34.6 million) range last year, recording a steep rise from 5 billion won in 2014, company officials said.

Behind the sales spike of the smoking cessation medication -- called Chantix in the United States or by its ingredient name of Varenicline -- is the Korean government’s extensive antismoking campaign, they said.

Champix, Pfizer Korea’s antismoking drug

Since the government increased the tobacco tax by 2,000won in 2015, it has proposed various antismoking initiatives, conscious of popular complaint that the move was just for bolstering revenue by squeezing ordinary people. The Ministry of Health and Welfare, for instance, covers the entire drug costs for people who participate in a 12-week antismoking treatment program, as part of its anti-smoking campaigns and education.

In December, it also obligated tobacco firms to attach graphic warnings and messages to cigarette packs to stress harmful effects of smoking.

The biggest beneficiaries of the government’s anti-smoking policy are drug makers, especially Pfizer Korea and its quitting aid.

Until then, Champix had seemed to be driven out of the market because of the controversy on its side effect of causing “suicidal impulses” among its users. Pfizer Korea had paid little attention to it, not even bothering to name a product manager for Champix.

The sale of Champix began to soar since the government implemented its antismoking policy, however. It rocketed from 5 billion won in 2014 to 26 billion won in 2015 and to 40 billion won last year.

In addition to the antismoking policy, the company attributes the sharp sales growth to their efforts to dissolve questions about the drug’s neuropsychiatric ill effects, publishing favorable research results, on the “Lancet” and other medical journals.

As the rapidly grown Champix has emerged as a blockbuster drug in Korea, an increasing number of domestic pharmaceutical firms are filing lawsuits to avoid patent litigation related to its generic production.

Last year, about 10 pharmaceuticals, including COREPHARMBIO, Daewoong Pharmaceutical, Hanmi Pharm, and Boryung Pharmaceutical, filed suits related to patent materials used in Champix. Pfizer Korea has extended its substance patent period from November 2018 to July 2020, but its domestic competitors maintain the patent period should cease in November 2018.

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