1,606 new product licenses issued in 2011

The Korea Food and Drug Administration announced Thursday that except for oriental medicines, licenses for new products totaled 1,606, a decrease of 25 percent a year earlier.

Of the licenses, prescription drugs accounted for 1,092, OTCs for 349, raw materials for 139 and orphan drugs for 26.

By therapeutic category, drug acting on circulatory system represented 21 percent of total produc...