Uptake of Potassium-Competitive Acid Blockers Following Its Introduction in South Korea

Objective: To determine the utilization of potassium-competitive acid blockers (P-CABs) and explore the impact of expanded insurance coverage for P-CABs on their usage.Methods: The utilization of revaprazan, tegoprazan, and fexuprazan was analyzed using claims data from the Health Insurance Review & Assessment Service spanning January 2016 to May 2023.Prescriptions were identified for cases with a diagnosis of acid-related conditions.Monthly drug utilization was calculated per 100,000 population using the defined daily doses (DDD).To examine changes in drug utilization following their insurance coverage expansion, interrupted time series analyses were performed using segmented linear regression and autoregressive integrated moving average models.Results: A total of 21,307,013 prescriptions were filled for P-CABs with acid-related diseases.The introduction of reimbursement for tegoprazan led to a significant increase in the utilization of total P-CABs, with a slope change of 17.61 (95% CI: 16.29, 18.93) DDD per 100,000 population per month.Additionally, after the reimbursement of fexuprazan, the utilization of P-CABs showed a further monthly increase of 26.39 (95% CI: 13.86, 38.92) DDD per 100,000 population, surpassing the previous upward trend.In the first five month in 2023, the utilization of tegoprazan and fexuprazan reached 658 and 326 DDD per 100,000 population, respectively.Conclusion: There has been a notable increase in the use of P-CABs since their reimbursement.Further research is needed to assess the public health implications of this uptake of new medicines in the population, particulary with regard to their long-term safety and appropriateness of use.(PeRM 2025;