SK Chemicals said Wednesday that its sustained-release anti-platelet compound drug Rinexin (Ingredient: Phenylpropanolamine hydrochloride) gas received marketing permission from the government.

SK Chemicals Rinexin is a combination of 200 milligrams of cilostazol and 160 milligrams of Ginkgo Biloba extract. It is used to prevent platelet clotting in the blood and improves ischemic symptoms caused by chronic arteriosclerosis. The drug is also effective in preventing the recurrence of cerebral infarction.

The company said the best advantage of sustained-release tablets is the significant reduction of adverse effects, including headache, which is also a side effect of the cilostazol formulation.

According to phase 3 clinical trials conducted by 18 domestic hospitals, the modified Rinexin showed 43 percent fewer side effects than previously Rinexin demonstrated.

Besides, the usage has been changed to one dose per day, improving patients' compliance with the medication and convenience, it said.

"Most patients generally take anti-platelets along with hypertension, diabetes, and hyperlipidemia," said Song Chi-man, SK Chemical Life Science’s product manager. "Our modified Rinexin is for such patients because we have considered patients' compliance with the medication and convenience.

UBIST, a market survey company, said that cilostazol in the anti-platelet market had grown at an annual average of 10.7 percent for the last five years to 81.6 billion won in 2019, exceeding the growth rate of the anti-platelet market, which stood at 8.2 percent.

According to the Cause of Death report in 2018 at Statistics Korea, heart diseases ranked at second-highest place in the list of death causes, followed by cerebrovascular diseases (fourth), diabetes (sixth), dementia (ninth), and hypertension (10th). The data implied that blood circulation-related diseases deserve far greater attention and more careful management than now, the company said.