● Korea＇s Best Blood Circulation Improvement Drug "Ginexin" Celebrates 27th Anniversary of Its Launch
- old at a rate of 2 pills per second... equivalent to 2,000 Mt. Everests if stacked one upon another
- In the age of 4-million-won-per-year senior citizen healthcare cost, the company is committed to improving patients＇ blood circulation at a lower costSK chemicals held an event on March 25 commemorating the 27th anniversary of the launch of the ginkgo biloba extract-based circulatory disorder pill "Ginexin-F." This marks the first time a homegrown drug for improving blood circulation has stayed on the market for more than 27 years.
As of the end of 2018, the cumulative number of Ginexin-F pills sold in Korea was 1.7 billion, equivalent to two pills a second. If piled up one on another, the height of pills sold so far is higher than 2,000 Mount Everests. The cumulative sales revenue for the pill is more than 400 billion won ($352 million).
SK chemicals＇ Ginexin-F took the uncontested No. 1 position last year with 44% of the blood circulation improvement drug market, according to data by Ubist, a drug industry market research firm.
As its long history attests, Ginexin has had a number of "firsts."
After receiving marketing approval on September 6, 1991, SK chemicals＇ Ginexin was first sold overseas three months later on December 3 in Germany, the United States, and Argentina. It is by now a famous story that it was sold in Germany before its launch in Korea because the efficacy of ginkgo leaves-based medicine was widely recognized by German consumers. This is the first Korean-made drug sold overseas before its introduction domestically.
After sales began in Korea in 1992, consumers’ general perception that ginkgo leaves are yellow and that blue ginkgo leaves have the highest potency began to change. During the first year of sales, Ginexin-F exceeded the 10-billion-won milestone, the first among all homemade drugs to do so. For the next 27 years, it has never ceded its top position in the ginkgo biloba extract-based circulatory disorder drug category.
An industry official commented, "Consumer experience in the drug＇s efficacy has led to confidence in our brand. What＇s most important in over-the-counter drug marketing is brand power."
According to the Health Insurance Statistical Yearbook 2018 published jointly by Korea’s National Health Insurance Service and the Health Insurance Review & Assessment Service, the average annual medical cost for senior citizens has surpassed the 4-million-won level for the first time in history, due to the trend towards an aged population.
Jeon Kwang-hyun, CEO of SK chemicals＇ Life Sciences Business, said, "A large percentage of senior citizen healthcare cost is now taken up by diseases related to blood circulation disorders. We will work hard to make Ginexin the No. 1 choice for patients with blood circulation problems."
SK chemicals＇ Ginexin improves blood circulation in peripheral arteries through blood viscosity reduction, vasodilation, and blood flow improvement.
Ginexin sales in Korea began on February 21, 1992.
※ Photo Caption: Korea＇s best blood circulation improvement pill Ginexin-F from SK chemicals