- Method of refining Chenodeoxycholic acid (CDCA), the main ingredient of Ursa

- Vitalization and growth expected in China 


Daewoong Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd (President Lee Jong Wook) has obtained a patent in China for a method of refining Ursa raw material. The CDCA method was patented and registered in December 2006, and the patent in China is the first overseas patent. Applications for patent have been submitted in Japan and Europe.

The patented technology is usedto refine high purity and yielding CDCA excluding impurities from CDCD compounds (containing pure CDCA 3~35%), and this high quality CDCA is used as a media for UDCA, or Ursodeoxycholic acid, the main ingredient of Ursa. Such independent CDCA refinement technology increases UCDA production dramatically, and is highly competitive both in price and quality. 

Daewoong Pharmaceutical obtained a license for Ursa in China in 2008, and sales will start this year. It is a highly anticipated product in China.

The total UDCA production size is about 500 tons (180 billion won), of which Daewoong took 78 tons (28 billion won). Daewoong expects to increase sales up to 30 billion won annually by increasing the production up to 200 tons by 2012. In particular, the establishment of a new cGMP plant will help the company’s advance into the global market.