The Trend of Antibiotic Production in Korea during 1981~2003

Kim, Youn Jeong; Lee, Seung Hwan; Kang, Yu Na; Kim, Won Chul; Kim, Sang Il; Wie, Seong Heon; Kim, Yang Ree; Kang, Moon Won

Abstract

BACKGROUND: It is difficult to know the actual situation of antibiotic usage in Korea. We investigated the trend of antibiotic production every five years from 1981 to 2003 by using two parameters:the cost and the amount of antibiotics produced in Korea.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
We analysed the data from "Annual Products of Medicine" published by Korea Pharmaceutical Manufactures Association. All antibiotics were classified into generic names, and the cost and the amount of antibiotic produced were compared with the results from previous years.
RESULTS
The total production cost and the amount of antibiotics increased since 1980 and by 2003, it was 1,306 billion won and 965 tons respectively. However, the increasing rate of production cost has slowed down since 2000. Among all antibiotics produced in Korea, cephalosporins recorded the highest production cost, reaching 595 billion won (45.6%) in 2003. Cephalosporins made the largest portion of the total amount:252 tons (26.2%). Both 3rd and 4th generation cephlosporins have increased gradually. The second most frequently produced antibiotics in terms of amount were penicillins, although it decreased by 25% since 1998. Aminoglycosides showed similar production cost, but the production amount decreased compared to that of 1998. The production amount of quinolones had skyrocketed to 641% from 1998. Tetracyclines, lincosamides, and chloramphenicols insignificantly decreased in both production cost and amount.
CONCLUSION
There seems to be an increase of antibiotics in production cost and amount in Korea, but the overall increasing rate of the cost has slowed down since 2000. The newer and more expensive antibiotics have grown in production.