CJ HealthCare said Thursday that it planned to export K-Cab (Ingredient: tegoprazan), a gastroesophageal reflux disease (GORD) treatment, to Thailand in partnership with a Thai drugmaker, Pond's Chemical.

CJ HealthCare will supply finished products of K-Cab to its Thai partner for the next 10 years, and the company expects to receive regulatory approval and launch the product in the country by 2022.

K-Cab is Korea's 30th novel drug that won the license in July 2018. It became the first potassium-competitive acid blocker (P-CAB) to obtain the indication for erosive and non-erosive GORD in Korea. The company started marketing the drug in March.

While conventional treatments such as proton pump inhibitors (PPI) need three to five days to show efficacy, P-CAB drugs suppress gastric acid secretion within one hour. P-CAB treatments also inhibit an excessive secretion of gastric acid during night time, which could reduce chest pain and a sleep disorder, according to CJ HealthCare.

Pond's Chemical has treatments for GORD, such as antacids and PPI-based drugs, as well as incrementally modified drugs and generic products for various diseases, including sterile water for injection and eye drops.

According to CJ HealthCare, Pond’s Chemical dominates the local market for sterile water for injection and eye drops through active sales and marketing activities.

Taking advantage of the Thai firm’s leading position in the sterile water for injection and eye drops market, the Korean company plans to make K-Cab as a representative treatment for the GORD market in Thailand.