SK Chemical wins FDA approval for dementia patch

SK Chemicals announced on Wednesday that it received final approval from the Food and Drug Administration of the U.S. to commercially launch sales for “SID710,” a dementia treatment patch. It is the first time for a dementia treatment patch developed by a Korean pharmaceutical brand to win approval from the FDA.

Patch products are known to administer medication through the skin for patients who find it difficult to keep count of medication administration or swallow pills. Regarding its dementia treatment patch, which is applied for one day, SK Chemicals said that the effectiveness is equal to pills but has less side effects such as nausea or infection and less burdensome to the stomach and liver.

With an increasingly aging population, treatment for dementia is gaining attention across global pharmaceutical companies. According to Datamonitor Healthcare, a research company, the number of dementia patients across the world amounts to 2.3 million, with the market for treatments estimated at an annual 3.3 billion U.S. dollars.

“We will continue to leverage our leading capabilities in development and winning regulatory approval to expand to overseas markets such as the U.S., Europe, South America and South East Asia,” said CEO Jeon Kwang-hyun of SK Chemicals.


Dong-Jun Heo hungry@donga.com