● SK chemicals’ Dementia Treatment Patch “SID710” Obtains FDA Approval

- A great achievement following exports into Europe, Australia, and Canada. The excellence of domestically developed medicines has been recognized.
- Signed contracts with 24 pharmaceutical companies from 19 countries. Tapped into the 4 trillion Korean won global market.


SK chemicals＇ dementia treatment patch, SID710 has started to expand its territory in the global market.

SK chemicals (CEO Jeon Kwang-hyun) announced on the 27th that its dementia treatment patch SID710 (Ingredient name: Rivastigmine) has received final marketing approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). SID710 is the first domestically developed patch for dementia treatment to be approved by the FDA.

Developed by SK chemicals in 2010, SID710 is the first dementia treatment patch made in Korea. This patch is applied to the skin daily and continuously delivers the drug to people with dementia who cannot remember the time and number of medications they have taken and for those patients who have difficulty swallowing pills.

SK chemicals’ SID710 has the same effect as orally consumed products in tablet form, but has fewer side effects such as nausea, vomiting, and inflammation, and puts less burden on the stomach and liver.

This FDA approval of SK chemicals＇ SID710 is another achievement following its exports to Europe (2013), Australia (2016), and Canada (2018). So far, the company has expanded into 19 countries and signed copyright and export contracts with 24 major pharmaceutical companies and is well recognized for the excellence of Korean medicines. It has been on sale in Korea since 2014 under the brand “Wondron Patch.”

Jeon Kwang-hyun, CEO of SK chemicals, said, “It is significant that SK chemicals has been recognized for its high technical capabilities through FDA approval,” and he added, “Following the expansion into the US and European markets, the company plans to expand into major countries in South America and Southeast Asia based on our development and market approval capabilities that meet global standards.”

Currently, SK chemicals’ SID710 is also proceeding with local approvals in Brazil and Saudi Arabia and is expanding its field in advanced markets abroad based on its differentiated formulation technology.

The dementia treatment patch was first developed in 2007 by Company N, a multinational pharmaceutical company, but many predicted that it would be impossible for its competitors to enter the market through development of the same formulation product due to the high technology barrier of its core technology, TDS (Transdermal Delivery System).

In 2012, however, SK chemicals developed SID710 based on its own TDS technology and passed the EU bioequivalence test, receiving approval as the first generic medicine in Europe. SK chemicals＇ R&D know-how and experience with “Trast,” the world’s first treatment patch for arthritis, which was developed by SK chemicals, led to the development of SID710.

The global market for dementia treatment is expanding as the population ages. According to Data Monitor Healthcare, a global market research firm, the number of dementia patients worldwide has reached 2.3 million as of 2019 , and the related drug market is worth 4 trillion won (USD 3.3 billion) annually.

Thanks to the expansion of the global market for dementia treatment and active marketing in overseas markets, SK chemicals＇ SID710 holds the No. 1 position in the European market for the same ingredient and formulation generic market in 2019, accounting for about 50 percent of the market share.

The FDA approval of SK chemicals’ SID710 is bringing added publicity to SK＇s pharmaceutical and bio R&D achievement. Since entering the pharmaceutical business in 1987, SK chemicals has been a pioneer of new drug R&D in Korea by developing its own new drugs including “Sunpla,” the third generation platinum complex anticancer drug, which was the very first domestic new drug in 1999, and “Joins,” its first natural medicine in 2001, and “Mvix,” a new drug for treating erectile dysfunction in 2007.

Since then, SK chemicals has shifted its R&D direction from treatment to prevention in accordance with the global trend of the medical community, and specialized its capabilities to SK bioscience and SK plasma, developing and commercializing SKYCellflu Quadrivalent, the world＇s first cell-cultured quadrivalent influenza vaccine. SK chemicals is setting new milestones in the domestic pharmaceutical and bio-industry by obtaining approval for the sale of the hemophiliac drug AFSTYLA in the US and Europe, a first for a Korean biologic drug.


* Photo description: SK chemicals＇ dementia treatment patch SID710 products that are selling in Europe