Japan's RaQualia Pharma has announced that one of its sublicensees, United Italian Trading Corporation (UITC) has started the product sales in Singapore of tegoprazan, a drug for gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), which was licensed through HK inno.N Corporation (headquartered in Seoul, South Korea).

Tegoprazan is a potassium-competitive acid blocker (P-CAB), a new-generation treatment for gastroesophageal reflux disease. P-CABs have a different mechanism of action from proton pump inhibitors (PPIs), the first-line therapy for gastroesophageal reflux disease, and suppress gastric acid secretion more rapidly and persistently than PPIs.

RaQualia and HK inno.N entered into an exclusive license agreement for developing, marketing, and manufacturing tegoprazan with sublicensing rights. HK inno.N and sublicensees worldwide have been conducting business activities for tegoprazan.

In South Korea, where tegoprazan was first launched in 2019 by HK inno.N under the trade name K-CAB, the product has maintained the No. 1 market share for three consecutive years since its launch, with domestic sales in 2022 on an outpatient prescription basis reaching 132.1 billion won (approximately 13.2 billion yen / 1 won = 0.10 yen). The cumulative sales from January to June this year reached 74.1 billion won (approximately 7.4 billion yen / 1 Korean won = 0.10 yen), and sales are steadily increasing.

In Singapore, UITC received marketing approval from the Singapore authorities in January for the four indications of erosive esophagitis, non-erosive gastroesophageal reflux disease, gastric ulcer, and Helicobacter pylori eradication adjuvant therapy. The Singapore market for anti-ulcer drugs is worth approximately 1.6 billion yen. With the launch of tegoprazan in Singapore, tegoprazan is now available in seven countries (South Korea, China, Mongolia, the Philippines, Mexico, Indonesia, and Singapore), and clinical development, regulatory review, and launch preparations are currently underway in 29 other countries.