The government said on the 20th it will inject a budget of 3.6 billion won this year to prevent shortages of essential medicines for children and pregnant women. It will support production of seven drugs from six corporations, including Samjin Pharmaceutical's lorazepam. Lorazepam is used for pediatric patients with seizures. Previously, a domestic corporation halted production of lorazepam, causing disruption in medical settings, and Samjin Pharmaceutical agreed to take over production.
The Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Korea Health Industry Development Institute (KHIDI) announced the corporations eligible for support on the day. Samjin Pharmaceutical, GC Biopharma, Chong Kun Dang pharmaceutical, BCWorld Pharm, McNulty Pharmaceutical, and Korea Pharma Bio Co. are included. Each corporation will receive up to 900 million won per year for two years to help build production facilities and equipment.
When administered to children, lorazepam can stop seizures within 10 minutes and prevent brain damage. Although it is a national essential medicine and a delisting-prevention medicine, a domestic corporation halted production. With this support, Samjin Pharmaceutical will build facilities and obtain item approval for lorazepam within the year to continue supply.
GC Biopharma's allergy treatment Histobulin injection, BCWorld Pharm's tuberculosis treatments Tubis tablets and Tubis-2 tablets, and McNulty Pharmaceutical's glucose drink for gestational diabetes testing, Gluorange 100, are produced exclusively by each respective drugmaker in Korea. However, due to reasons such as aging production facilities, delays in supply or temporary stockouts have been recurring.
With this support, GC Biopharma plans to increase production of Histobulin injection from 260,000 vials this year to 520,000 vials in 2028. BCWorld Pharm will also boost output of Tubis tablets (2.4 million→4.8 million tablets) and Tubis-2 tablets (3 million→6 million tablets), and McNulty Pharmaceutical will increase production of Gluorange 100 (480,000→600,000 bottles).
Chong Kun Dang pharmaceutical's antibiotic cefazolin injection is used to prevent surgical site infections. Chong Kun Dang pharmaceutical decided to increase production of cefazolin injection from 6 million vials to 9 million vials. Korea Pharma Bio Co. plans to newly obtain item approval for hydrocortisone injection used in emergency treatment for infants and young children and begin production. A Ministry of Health and Welfare official said, "We will ensure a stable supply of medicines to protect the health of children and pregnant women."