Recipharm has signed an agreement with Daewoong, a Korean-based pharmaceutical company with a strong presence in respiratory therapeutics, for a ten year extension of its existing contract, through to 2025, for the manufacture and supply of Erdosteine API. The finished Erdosteine product is manufactured by Daewoong Pharmaceutical at its Korean facilities. 

Daewoong will annually purchase minimum API quantities of Erdosteine worth a total of about €25 million from Edmond Pharma, a Recipharm Group company. In return, Daewoong has secured exclusive rights in Korea and Thailand to sell both the original product and to register and market all the new formulations, based on Erdosteine, which are currently under development at Edmond Pharma.

The first licensing agreement between Edmond Pharma and Daewoong Pharmaceutical was signed in 1994. As a consequence, Daewoong became Recipharm’s exclusive partner in Korea and from 2008 for Thailand as well. The product has been sold under the name ERDOS in the Korean market ever since 1997.

Erdosteine is indicated for the treatment of acute and chronic respiratory diseases. Its pharmacological profile is characterized by a unique multifactorial activity: muco-modulatory, anti-bacterial, anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant. The molecule is marketed in over 40 countries and currently, 75% of Erdosteine sold worldwide is supplied by Edmond Pharma. Erdosteine is available in capsule, sachet, suspension and dispersible tablet formulations. The chemical synthesis of API to the manufacture of capsules and dispersible tablets is performed in Recipharm’s Paderno Dugnano facility, located just outside of Milan.

“Daewoong Pharmaceutical is our first customer for the purchase of our Erdosteine API,” said Pierfrancesco Manzo, sales and business development director for Erdosteine. “We are therefore delighted to have secured this substantial extension of our contract with the company and believe strongly that this sets the basis for significant new growth of Erdosteine in Korea.”

He continued: “Indeed, thanks to Daewoong’s strong commitment on the scientific promotion of the product and our constant support in terms of clinical development, ERDOS has become a leading product in the Korean respiratory market with around 46 million capsules and 700,000 suspensions sold in 2014 alone.”