Daiichi Sankyo Korea said Thursday that it has signed a strategic partnership agreement with Kuhnil Pharmaceuticals to market Omacor, a dyslipidemia treatment, jointly.

Omacor is the first prescription medicine based on Omega 3 and has proved its safety and efficacy in Korea since its launch in 2006. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration also approved the drug as a prescription medicine in 2004.

Under the accord, the two companies will jointly manage the sales and marketing of Omacor at general hospitals starting from the beginning of next month. Kuhnil will be in charge of sales promotion while Daiichi Sankyo Korea will be in charge of distribution throughout the country.

They expect the combination of the technological strength of Kuhnil, which has proven its safety and efficacy for the past 10 years, and the cardiovascular expertise of Daiichi Sankyo Korea will serve as a synergy for the expansion of the domestic market of Omacor.

“Through this partnership, we will make a meaningful start to become Kuhnil's ‘Partner of Choice,’ which recognizes us as the best partner for the agreement based on our high level of expertise and know-how accumulated in the cardiovascular field,” Daiichi Sankyo Korea CEO Kim Dae-jung said. “We will do our best to contribute to the health promotion of patients and continuous development of the domestic pharmaceutical industry.”

Kuhnil Pharmaceutical CEO Kim Young-joon also said, “We are pleased to cooperate with Daiichi Sankyo of Korea, which has an excellent sales force and position in the domestic cardiovascular drug market.”

The two companies will work together to provide more specialized and differentiated customer value, he added.