Boryung Corp. (CEO Kim Jeong-gyun) announced that it held a commemorative symposium on the 5th of last month to mark the 15th anniversary of the launch of its hypertension treatment “Kanarb” (ingredient name: fimasartan).

With about 350 attendees, including Boryung officials and prescribing physicians, CEO Kim presented plans for expanding the Kanarb product portfolio along with the current status and targets for its global expansion, sharing with the audience a blueprint for Kanarb to protect public health worldwide beyond the domestic market. Boryung Chairman Kim Seung-ho, who led the development of Kanarb, said, “Kanarb was born through Boryung’s pioneering spirit and has earned the honorable label of ‘the national new drug for hypertension’ today,” adding, “The Kanarb family will continue to move toward a greater leap forward until the day it is reborn as a global new drug beyond a national one.”

Korea’s first new drug for hypertension, ‘Kanarb’

Boryung launched a project in 1992 to develop a new hypertension drug in the ARB class, and after six years of candidate substance screening, it identified the final lead compound in 1998. Based on a total development period of 18 years and an investment of KRW 50 billion, the company obtained new drug approval from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety in September 2010 and finally launched Kanarb in the Korean market on 1 March 2011.

The fact that a pharmaceutical company with sales of KRW 200–300 billion could devote nearly 20 years to product development with an investment of KRW 50 billion was driven by the persistence of founder Chairman Kim Seung-ho. Among hundreds of synthesized candidate compounds, those with the greatest potential were tested in animal studies. While the antihypertensive effect was strong, the efficacy dropped sharply after 4–5 hours. It was concluded that the drug would have poor marketability because it would need to be taken twice a day. At this crossroads, Chairman Kim encouraged the research team, saying, “Even if you fail, see it through to the end,” and they ultimately discovered a viable candidate substance. The researchers later recalled, “Perhaps our sense of urgency paid off; we found a new candidate as if by a miracle.”

Following the successful launch of Kanarb, Boryung has expanded treatment options not only for patients with hypertension but also for those with comorbidities through the “Kanarb Family,” a range of combination products based on Kanarb. The Kanarb Family consists of seven products: Kanarb, Kanarb Plus, Ducarb, Tuvero, Ducaro, Acarb, and Ducarb Plus.

From No. 1 in Korea to global market entry

“The emperor (Kahn) of ARB-class formulations.” This is the meaning embedded in the name Kanarb. Starting with sales of KRW 10 billion in its first year on the market in 2011, Kanarb has consistently maintained the No. 1 position in sales in the ARB-class antihypertensive monotherapy segment.

The Kanarb Family is also a major product line with annual prescription volume of more than KRW 150 billion (based on data from pharmaceutical market research firm UBIST), yet it continues to show steady growth every year. In 2025 it posted KRW 194.8 billion in prescriptions, up 6.06% year-on-year, putting it on the verge of reaching KRW 200 billion.

The Kanarb Family is now available in nine countries worldwide, leading the globalization of Korean-developed new drugs. Starting with its first export contract with Mexico in 2011, Boryung has expanded into Central and South American markets such as Panama and Peru, as well as Asian markets including Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Russia, the Philippines, and Myanmar, working to establish Kanarb Family as a global brand.

Targeting expanded market dominance through ongoing clinical trials and development

Kanarb has accumulated more than 73,000 domestic and international clinical cases, making it the Korean new drug with the largest volume of clinical data. Based on this, Boryung is pursuing the “Great Kanarb” strategy to expand Kanarb’s influence by broadening indications and launching combination products.

Boryung is focusing on enhancing Kanarb’s value by adding new indications. For example, based on the “FANTASTIC” study, which demonstrated superior proteinuria reduction compared with losartan, another ARB-class drug, the company obtained a related indication in 2021.

Development of new Kanarb Family products is also accelerating. Boryung is focusing on developing combination therapies for hypertension, as well as fixed-dose combinations that treat both hypertension and hyperlipidemia. Through clinical trials of a combination of fimasartan and dapagliflozin, it is developing a treatment for both hypertension and diabetes, steadily expanding the Kanarb product portfolio. Among these, “Kanarbjet,” a combination therapy for hypertension and hyperlipidemia that combines fimasartan, atorvastatin, and ezetimibe, is scheduled for launch in June, and other combination products are also expected to roll out as soon as their respective clinical programs are completed.

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