In 2025, Daewoong Pharmaceutical achieved a long-anticipated milestone by joining the “KRW 1 trillion club” in outpatient prescriptions. While the company had been edging close for some time, the achievement carries particular significance as it was powered primarily by increased prescribing of Daewoong’s own products rather than licensed-in drugs.

The milestone was supported by the continued strength of flagship brands such as Ursa and Fexuclue—now firmly established beyond its early “promising newcomer” phase—as well as steady contributions from long-standing products including Sevikar, Zemiglo, and Lixiana. Together, a solid and diversified product lineup translated into a clear step change in prescription growth.

Daewoong Pharmaceutical has continued to strengthen its position in the prescription market on the back of multiple large-scale products. On a single-brand basis, the antithrombotic Lixiana (edoxaban), co-marketed with Daiichi Sankyo, ranked first with prescriptions totaling $83.9 million, up 3.6% from $80.9 million a year earlier.

Ongoing patent litigation has created a market environment in which NOAC therapies remain partially shielded from generic competition. As a result, Lixiana now accounts for roughly 12% of Daewoong Pharmaceutical’s total prescription sales.

Another Daiichi Sankyo collaboration, Sevikar (amlodipine/olmesartan), ranked sixth with $47.1 million. Including Sevikar HCT ($28.5 million) and Olmetec ($21.2 million), the olmesartan franchise generated more than $96.4 million in prescriptions.

The diabetes franchise co-developed with LG Chem also delivered robust results. Zemimet (gemigliptin/metformin) placed second overall with $71.1 million, while Zemiglo ($28.5 million) and the reimbursement-aligned combination Zemidapa ($9.3 million) lifted the franchise to approximately $109 million in prescriptions, up 3.8% year on year.

Notably, the transition from monotherapy to combination treatments is accelerating. While Zemimet posted modest growth of 1.6% and Zemiglo edged down 0.6%, Zemidapa surged 44.5%. Products aligned with reimbursement criteria enabled the franchise to exceed $6.9 million in prescriptions within just two years of launch.

By contrast, Crestor (rosuvastatin), co-marketed with AstraZeneca, recorded $56.8 million in prescriptions, down 4.4% from 2024, reflecting generic saturation and the impact of combination therapies. Overall, licensed-in products continued to stably support about 35% of company-wide sales, forming the foundation of Daewoong’s $700 million prescription base.

While licensed-in products provided stability, growth was led decisively by Daewoong Pharmaceutical’s own brands. The P-CAB therapy Fexuclue (fexuprazan) posted $62.0 million in prescriptions, up 14.3% from $54.3 million a year earlier.

The result reflects effective co-promotion by Daewoong and Chong Kun Dang, two of Korea’s strongest sales organizations, building on execution experience gained during the rollout of K-CAB (tegoprazan). Of Daewoong’s total prescription growth of $9.16 million, Fexuclue alone contributed $7.71 million.

Quarterly data show sustained momentum, with prescriptions rising from $11.7 million in the first quarter of 2024 to $16.3 million per quarter over two years, marking eight consecutive quarters of growth. Fexuclue accounted for 84% of overall growth, making it the company’s primary growth engine.

Including parallel growth from related products marketed by Daewoong Bio and HanAll Biopharma, the success of a single well-executed new drug has generated spillover benefits across multiple affiliates.

Another standout was Ursa, Daewoong Pharmaceutical’s long-established flagship brand. Prescriptions rose 9.0% year on year to $47.5 million, an increase of $3.93 million. That a product with more than 50 years of history delivered such growth underscores its enduring brand strength. Together, Fexuclue and Ursa lifted outpatient prescription sales by $11.6 million—more than offsetting declines in some licensed-in products.

Other in-house new drugs also showed steady progress. The SGLT-2 inhibitor Envlo (inavogliflozin) recorded $8.13 million in prescriptions, up from $7.30 million a year earlier. Quarterly results remained broadly flat at around $2.0 million, reflecting structural challenges in a market dominated by multinational players and expanding generics.

Industry observers note that while the domestic P-CAB market has evolved into a three-way race among locally developed drugs, the SGLT-2 segment presents a markedly different competitive landscape, limiting the pace of Envlo’s expansion.

Meanwhile, Crezet (rosuvastatin/ezetimibe), positioned as a successor to Crestor, posted $30.6 million in prescriptions, up 9.8% year on year. The growth aligns with broader prescribing trends favoring combination therapies in dyslipidemia. As Crestor softened, Crezet naturally emerged as a complementary and alternative option within the portfolio.

Including other combination products such as Litorvazet, Daewoong Pharmaceutical’s combination-therapy lineup generated $44.4 million in prescriptions, improving the overall product mix and margin structure.

Some products recorded year-on-year declines, most notably the expectorant erdosteine. Prescriptions for the Erdos franchise fell 22.7% to $11.1 million, reflecting an industry-wide contraction in respiratory medicines.

Analysts attribute the decline to fewer respiratory disease cases from the second half of 2024 through 2025, as well as pricing-related production constraints. Despite this, underlying demand for Erdos remains relatively solid, and its strong seasonality leaves room for a rebound as respiratory illnesses increase.

Monthly data illustrate this pattern clearly, with prescriptions bottoming out at $700,000 in August 2025 before rebounding to approximately $1.03 million by December.

Among the top 30 prescription products, exactly half posted year-on-year growth, led by Zemidapa (49.0%), Asacol (26.7%), and Fexuclue (14.3%). Growth was broadly balanced between new and established brands, underscoring a resilient and diversified portfolio.

Declining products included Erdos, Olomax, and Crestor, reflecting category-specific headwinds rather than structural weakness. Notably, long-standing diabetes therapies such as Diabex XR and Diabex returned solid growth, while antithrombotic Cloart regained stability following earlier recall-related disruptions.

With prescription sales reaching $700 million, Daewoong Pharmaceutical’s priorities for the coming year are coming into sharper focus. The company aims to accelerate market penetration of key growth drivers such as Fexuclue—now approaching $68.9 million—amid intensifying competition from JaQBo.

At the same time, further expansion into additional clinical departments, including orthopedics, is expected to support continued prescription growth. Scaling up Envlo and accelerating the shift toward Crezet in the dyslipidemia segment also remain key objectives.

On the defensive side, maintaining the stability of core franchises such as Zemiglo, Lixiana, and Sevikar remains essential. Together, these “core trio” products continue to account for roughly 35% of company-wide revenue.

With both legacy brands and new drugs performing reliably, Daewoong Pharmaceutical is well positioned to sustain momentum—provided it pairs that foundation with more assertive commercial execution in the year ahead.