Dongkook Pharmaceutical's Uresco captures 76% of combination drug market for enlarged prostate

Dongkook Pharmaceutical's improved drug for benign prostatic hyperplasia, Uresco, has seized a dominant share of the combination drug market for the same active ingredients, vaulting to first place.

Dongkook Pharmaceutical said Wednesday that Uresco held a 76.3 percent share of the dutasteride-tadalafil combination drug market in June, based on data from pharmaceutical market research firm UBIST, making it the top-selling product in that category.

The result is all the more striking given that rival products combining the same ingredients launched around the same time, creating intense competition — yet Uresco captured more than three-quarters of the market and established a commanding lead.

Uresco is the world's first combination tablet to pack dutasteride (0.5 mg) — which shrinks prostate size and slows disease progression — and tadalafil (5 mg), which relieves lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS), into a single pill. By delivering both the long-term management benefits of dutasteride, a 5-alpha reductase inhibitor, and the voiding and storage symptom relief of tadalafil, a PDE-5 inhibitor — including weak urine flow, frequent urination and nocturia — the drug significantly improves patient convenience.

The clinical evidence has also been validated in a leading international journal. Results from a domestic multicenter phase 3 trial of Uresco were published in BJU International, the journal of the British Association of Urological Surgeons. The research showed that Uresco demonstrated superior efficacy compared with each monotherapy and an acceptable safety profile, confirming that the two-ingredient combination achieves both rapid symptom relief and effective long-term disease management.

Building on its strong domestic performance, Dongkook Pharmaceutical is now pushing into overseas markets. The company recently signed a licensing and supply agreement with Spanish pharmaceutical company FAES Farma covering 13 countries in Latin America, including Mexico, Colombia, Peru and Chile, and is preparing for local launches.

The achievement is seen as a case study in how a combination drug can quickly seize market leadership — leveraging medication adherence and clinical superiority over single-ingredient prescriptions — while also demonstrating global scalability through international partnerships.

"Benign prostatic hyperplasia requires long-term management, so treatment must address not only symptom relief but also prostate size, the risk of disease progression and patients' quality of life," a Dongkook Pharmaceutical marketing official said. "Uresco is earning strong trust at the point of prescription as a new treatment option."