The Blue Vanguard Vol.12

Yonsei Student Pharmacist

THE

BLUE

VANGUARD

2017

winter

Vol. 12

04 PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY Manhender Nayak, General Manager of Takeda 12 INTERNATIONAL ISSUE Biopay : Can I Pay with My Body?

22 COLUMN The Truth of Sanitary Pads

EDITOR’S NOTE

EDITOR’S NOTE

Recently, people, wanted or not, have been exposed to issues related to pharmaceutical fields, such as pharmaceutical companies, Ministry of Food and Drug Safety and pharmacy schools. This means that pharmaceutics came one step closer to our daily lives which made an inextricable connection between drug and life. In this era, we, as Blue Vanguardians, write articles based on what would be the most important and interesting issues to either pharmacy-related

or non-related people, and make the journal with eye-catching color and design. In the 12h edition of The Blue Vanguard, we dealt with various pharmaceutical issues, interviewed pharmaceutical professionals, and introduced our campus life at Yonsei. We would ike to express gratitude to our advertisers Mahender Nakak of Takeda Korea, Jonghyuk Sung of Stemore, in addition to our supporters Prof. Gyoonhee Han and Prof. Jinhyun Jeong.

2

THE BLUE VANGUARD

CONTENTS

ISSUE Mahender Nayak, GM of Takeda Korea

04 05

Meet Your New Pharmacy: AMAZON

08 09

A Promising Future of Pharmaceutical Industry The Genuine Pharmacist, KyungDo Shin

06 07 10 11

CAREER OF PHARMACIST 12 13

BIOPAY: Can I Pay with My Body?

16 17

Working For Public : The Public Pharmacists in Korea

14 15 18 19

A Rising Cancer Immunotherapy

Drug Induced Accidents, Drug Deception

STUDENT LIFE

Bath Salt: A Zombie Drug

21

A Turmoil of Sanitary Pads

22 23

Life On Campus - Binge Drinking at a Pharmacist’s view

26 27

The Pharmacist License Test : Changes and Improvements Field Trip to Handok Factory

24 25 28 29

FEEDBACK 30 EPILOGUE

2017 VOL.12

3

PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY

Mahender Nayak General Manager of Takeda Pharmaceuticals Korea You Sun Choi

F

clauchoi@yonsei.ac.kr

ounded more than two centuries ago, Takeda Pharmaceutical company is now one of the largest global companies in both Japan and Asia. Its 236-year legacy and mission to provide better health and brighter future for patients worldwide have made it excel at innovating in the industry. The Korean subsidiary of this pharmaceutical giant started its operations in Seoul in 2011, and has since put top priority in the improvement of patients’ health in Korea.

In an interview with The Blue Vanguard, Mahender Nayak, president and general manager of Takeda Pharmaceuticals Korea, shared his experience and entrepreneurial philosophy, along with some words of advice for future leaders.

Merging Medicine with Management “I graduated from medical school in India and practiced in emergency medicine. Then I joined the pharmaceutical industry in medical affairs but began to develop keen interset in the commercial aspect of the business. So I did a two-year executive MBA in marketing which helped me immensely as I pursued a career in sales and marketing.

Eight years of my pharmaceutical industry life was with AstraZeneca, and the last seven years, it’s been with Takeda, both global multinational companies.

Given my clinical background, interacting with patients and their families reinforced the importance of being a good listener and understanding their emotional needs. This learning has been very important for me personally as a I evolved through my career to become a general manager. There are 217 people in Takeda Korea, and I know that I can make a positive impact in every one of them. Moreover, the training in an emergency medicine setting also helped me to keep calm and take the right decision even under the most urgent situations. As a leader, it’s important to demonstrate a calm composure and not get swayed by emotions in the face of various organizational challenges.”

Commitment: What Makes Takeda Korea Unique “People are different across cultures. You can characterize a country’s people by the way they work and

4

THE BLUE VANGUARD

behave. There is one thing that impressed me about Koreans. It is the fact that people are very committed to work, and they are very passionate about implementing whatever has been planned. There is this whole sense of accountability which makes Koreans stand apart.

Korea has done extremely well in encouraging local pharmaceutical companies in doing research. That is another feature that strikes me as unique. If you look at the statistics since 2000, there has been at least 23 chemical entities developed by Korean companies. This means that the government and the industry have looked for innovation. There is a good synergy between multinational and local companies, where local ones work on R&D to ultimately meet the needs of global patients. For instance, Takeda recently joined a R&D partnership with Samsung Biologics.”

PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY

Takeda-ism, the Cornerstone of Success “As pharmaceutical company leaders, we should be committed to add value to patient lives and inspire employees to keep that as the primary objective. I’m proud to be working in an organization that reinforces the message on putting patients first, and building trust with the society we work in. It is a secondary task to provide value to our shareholders and ensure we invest back into R&D to find better solutions for patients. Takeda maps out a strategy for our vision by putting top priority in 4 core values: Patient Centricity, Trust, Reputation, and Business.

The company’s’ motto Takeda-ism is what guides us in achieving our vision. Integrity, Fairness, Honesty, and Perseverance are values that we withhold under this ideal.

It incorporates our unwavering commitment to fair, honest business operation based on integrity and realization of our vision despite challenges. Every single Takeda employee is committed to respecting Takeda-ism on a daily basis to continue to earn trust from society. That is also what makes them proud to be working in this organization.”

Tailoring to the Needs of His People “When I took up this role as general manager, the first task was to understand the pulse of the organization. To see what motivates and inspires the people here, and to look into the challenges they are facing. I recognized that people in Takeda Korea have been successful in achieving the financial KPI; however, everybody was chasing behind the financials that the engagement of employees was not as much as one would aspire for. So as a general manager, I saw the need of creating an environment where people truly enjoy working. This is also about how managers can help employees in improving their career at Takeda.

Therefore, I created an avenue where all employees can communicate freely through a program called “One Voice”. I engage with employees across all levels in the organization and hold monthly town hall meetings.

Employees can ask questions in real time using an online mobile app. I realized that Koreans feel uncomfortable asking questions directly, but thanks to the anonymity of the application, many questions are raised. I personally hope that the organization evolves to a stage where people are willing to ask challenging questions openly.”

Opportunities that Lie Ahead “One of the challenges Korea faces in the near future is the aging population. This is going to change the dynamics in the Korean pharmaceutical industry, as well as present numerous opportunities that will become available for future pharmacists. The industry needs to make sure that medicines are accessible to patients across all demographics, while striving to deliver the right value proposition.

We started two internship programs to foster talents to lead the future of not only Takeda Pharmaceuticals Korea but also the Korean pharmaceutical market: one for general functions, called “Summer Internship”, and the other one exclusively for pharmacy majors, called “Detailing Internship”. In the latter, interns can have a field experience by visiting drugstores and delivering product information for pharmacists. They also have a chance to take part in projects and practice systematic brand strategies.”

A Message to Aspiring Students “The greatest satisfaction you get from working in the pharmaceutical industry is when you realize that what you do everyday at work eventually results in saving patient lives or making a meaningful difference in them. As a pharmacy student it is important to keep patient centricity as key. Whilst the knowledge you acquire in the pharmacy school is a basic requirement, success in your career depends on constantly reminding yourself on the primary objective of the role you can play in improving patients’ lives.” B 2017 VOL.12

5

INTERNATIONAL

A Promising Future of Pharmaceutical Industry

R

Seo Bin Park

jensbpark@yonsei.ac.kr

ecently, pharmacy jobs were designated as a target for automation with the rising artificial intelligence (AI), as it could check drug-drug and drug-disease interactions and even make recommendations, allowing more accurate medical prescriptions to be given. With heightened international attention to this issue, the 77th International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP) World Congress of Pharmaceutical Science 2017 Seoul was held in the Republic of Korea from September 10th to 14th. Founded in 1912, the FIP is the global body representing pharmacy and pharmaceutical sciences. It is intended to help the development of pharmacy profession to meet the world’s health care needs. Under the theme of “Medicines and beyond! The soul of pharmacy”, FIP had numerous scholarly programs, Korean sessions, round-table meetings, career opportunities seminars, and much more. The seminar focused on how the Internet of Things (IoT) and AI could be utilized to develop new drugs and help nations advance into global enterprises, and what career opportunities are available in the field of industrial pharmacy.

Development of New Drugs Korea Pharmaceutical and Bio-pharma Manufacturers Association (KPBMA) regards pharmaceutical and biopharma industry to be the new growth industry that will lead the Fourth Industrial Revolution. The Republic of Korea, ensuing the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, etc., is the tenth nation to have developed new drugs. In 1999, Sunpla (Heptaplatin), a new anti-gastric cancer agent by SK Chemicals, acquired final permission from Korea Food and Drug Administration (KFDA) as the first domestically developed drug. Including Invossa-K Inj., a cell and gene therapy for the treatment of osteoarthritis by Kolon Life Science, Korea now holds twenty-nine new medicines. Developing new drugs has

6

THE BLUE VANGUARD

INTERNATIONAL

a long development period and a complicated production process, and thus countries that could develop and produce medicines are rare. Unlike the concerns regarding emerging AI, the expectation is that it could be utilized to search for research papers and further deep learning.

Indeed, pretreatment based on big data analysis could even prevent the outbreak of prevalent diseases. According to the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF), Science and Engineering Indicators show that China, Germany, and Japan have value-added output of 27.1%, 27.7%, and 30.3% respectively as to pharmaceutical industry, whereas South Korea has value-added output of 14.2%.

Perhaps, the more advanced the country is, the more it financially invests in its national health promotion.

growth corresponds to an average annual employment increase of 3.3%. The boost to employment is possible, because not only pharmaceutical industry, but also its related industries, such as development, production, distribution, and marketing create new positions. The employment status of pharmaceutical industry in Korea presents a similar trend. The domestic pharmaceutical and bio-pharma industry provide many stable and young positions. Pharmaceutical industry employs more than twice as manufacturing business. Moreover, pharmaindustry offers more full-time jobs; almost nine out of ten employees are hired permanently. Lastly, for the past five years, bio-pharma industry has had youth employment of 45.5%.

Opportunities in Industrial Pharmacy

Advancement into Global Enterprises First-in-class drug is the future competence that drives domestic pharmaceutical firms to make a leap forward to global ones. Medicines could be considered as just some small pills, yet their values are substantial. For instance, Harvoni, a tablet used to treat Hepatitis C, has annual sales of twenty billion U.S. dollars. Remarkably, its annual sales are similar to those of Korea’s entire pharmaceutical markets. To gain this capacity, the companies highly regard research and development (R&D) through open innovation. Start-ups and small businesses take charge of fundamental research, while major companies take charge of development and commercialization. Strategic collaboration helps shorten the new drug development duration; it is to overcome the limitations of increasing investment scale of R&D and decreasing probability of success. Since the companies invest much in R&D personnel and budget, the status of employment in worldwide pharmaceutical industry is greatly prospective.

The pharmaceutical industry employs approximately 4.4 million people worldwide. The number of employees increased by 790,000 between 2006 and 2012. This

With positive prospects in mind, some students could possibly feel relieved once they enter school of pharmacy; however, it is crucial for them to get involved with the world of industrial pharmacy, instead of passively attending pharmacy school. The two main unions are International Pharmacy Student Federation (IPSF) and International Pharmaceutical Federation-Industrial Pharmacy Section (FIP-IPS). Indeed, many of whom have succeeded found the right career path after immersing themselves in these associations. Once engaged with pharmaceutical industry, it is not difficult to realize that there exists a broad spectrum of careers in this sphere.

For instance, some of the jobs include pharmaceutical research, pharmaceutical development (formulation development, analytical method development, clinical trial materials manufacture, clinical trial monitoring), manufacture/production, military/emergency pharmacy, quality control (analytical testing), quality assurance (auditing, documentation, validation), regulatory affairs (submissions to health agency), logistics (supply chain management), marketing (pharmaco-economics, marketing/sales), training, journalism, and politics.

In the field of industrial pharmacy, staffs get to work with other professionals and inter-disciplinary teams.

Promotion potential, extensive travel, great salary, and huge satisfaction are also benefits of working in this department. All in all, if workers could make use of big data, AI, and IoT, advancement in R&D, open innovation, licensing, production, commercialization, and regulation seem extremely promising. B 2017 VOL.12

7

INTERNATIONAL

Meet Your New Pharmacy:

AMAZON

Do Hyun Lee

dhleeaa@yonsei.ac.kr

R

apid disruption is happening in the healthcare space. The country is becoming home to an aging population and limited resources; the healthcare industry is seemingly required to become increasingly digital and patientcentric. The use of digital technologies will therefore deliver enlarged accuracy within diagnostics and analytics, and enable the ability for medical professionals to provide exceptional medical treatment surrounding chronic, longterm conditions. Mobile technology and apps put personal healthcare management and control back in the hands of the patient, enabling a move away from a reactive and sporadic model to one that is proactive and always-on.

As a review of St. Louis Post-Dispatch illustrates, Amazon has received pharmacy licenses in at least twelve states, including Nevada, Arizona, North Dakota, Louisiana, Alabama, New Jersey, Michigan, Connecticut, Idaho, New Hampshire, Oregon and Tennessee. Maine is still pending. The breaking news points out Amazon’s ambition toward healthcare worldwide, as well as its further disruption in the pharmacy market. As a result, pharmacy shares decreased by up to 13%, highlighting how much of a threat Amazon’s move into the market could be for the industry’s major players. Amazon is also known to have obtained the domain AmazonRX (where RX stands for Prescription).

Amazon is in the final stages of figuring out its strategy to join the multibillion-dollar prescription drug market.

Before Thanksgiving, the company will decide whether to move into selling prescription drugs online or not. If it decides to make that move, it will start expanding its senior team with drug supply chain experts. Amazon is quite prepared for this new encounter: Not only already possessing business selling medical supplies online,

8

THE BLUE VANGUARD

INTERNATIONAL

such as gauze and thermometers, but Amazon also has a healthteam called 1492, which is focused on both hardware and software projects, like developing health applications for the Echo and Dash Wand. Its cloud service, Amazon Web Services, continues to dominate the health and life sciences market nowadays. However, toward many more assumptions, Amazon declined to comment.

Amazon spent years researching opportunities before it telegraphs its intentions. The market size of online drug selling opportunity is alluring, since analysts have estimated the U.S. prescription drug market at $560 billion per year. In the past year, Amazon has ramped up its hiring and consulted with dozens of people about a potential move into the pharmacy market. For instance, Eric French from consumables team has become the division’s vice president, and Mark Lyons from Premera Blue Cross is now the internal pharmacy benefits manager for its own employees. The efforts that the company put in are the hinges on its success, in which they push into the broader drug supply chain.

Media and the public are interested in Amazon’s initiatives. Leerink, an analyst firm, has separately reported that Amazon will get into the pharmacy management space and expects an announcement within the next year or two. Moreover, it expects Amazon to pursue a mailorder pharmacy that initially targets uninsured customers or people who have high deductibles and pay cash for most of their prescription drugs. Pharmacy executives said it would take at least 18 to 24 months for Amazon to get proper drug licenses in fifty states in the United States.

In a report of Goldman Sachs, Amazon will ultimately look to improve price transparency for consumers and reduce out-of-pocket costs.

However, the e-commerce industry is also turning into a competitive space. Although Amazon currently sells medical devices, it could look to rival Walgreens or Target, which saw its pharmaceutical division bought by CVS Health, presently looking to acquire Aetna in a new merger, in order to consolidate and strengthen its position within the prescription drug market. Nonetheless, with Amazon encroaching upon the market, competitors are joining forces to fight off the pull of Amazon and its ability to attract its customers in order to survive.

In conclusion, we could envision that the entrance of Amazon into pharmacy could offer unique value to some customers, providing easier ability to manage prescriptions and perhaps discounts, such as free generics to Prime users. Although Amazon keeps its reticency at the moment, not stating a single goal in public, the disruptive potential it will bring to the society should be considered beforehand, but not afterward. The business remains a fierce space, with players constantly looking to seek advantages through competitive pricing, acquisitions or investment in new technologies. B

2017 VOL.12

9

PUBLIC SECTOR

The Genuine Pharmacist,

KyungDo Shin

A

HaYan Jang

jhywhite1004@naver.com

mong diverse functions of pharmacists, local pharmacists are well-known for their traditional roles, and people consider them most acquainted with. However, there are many young pharmacists who have passion to expand the duties of pharmacists in accordance to the demands of the times. On a hot summer day, the Blue Vanguard went to Suwon to meet ‘the genuine pharmacist’ Kyung Do Shin.

10

BV : Could you introduce yourself to the readers of Blue Vanguard?

BV : Why are you doing various activities as well as pharmacy management?

Hello, I’m Kyung Do Shin. I was enrolled in Chosun University College of Pharmacy in 2005, and after graduated in 2009, I worked as a researcher in the United pharmaceutical company. Currently, I am managing ‘Smart Pharmacy’ in Suwon, Gyeonggi district. In addition to working as a pharmacist, I am the founding member of KYPG (Korea Young Pharmacist Group) after graduation, having experience of chairing the group afterward. Taking that opportunity, I worked as a member of Young Pharmacists Committee of the Korean Pharmacy Association (KPA). Now I act in Public Relations Committee of KPA and inform pharmacists, as well as the public about the activities of the association.

Right after I graduated, KPA International Committee found KYPG. Initiating with KYPG, KPA and other regional pharmacist associations set up the Young Pharmacists Committee. These committee not only represented the voice of young pharmacists, but also played significant roles in linking pharmacists to pharmacy students. We also struggled together with the reorganization of pharmacy school system.

Also, I have seen the establishment of ‘Proper Drug Usage Center’ and ‘Drug Adverse Effect Reporting Center’ during activities from the association. As the social roles of pharmacists in public health become more important, I though that young pharmacists should active.

THE BLUE VANGUARD

PUBLIC SECTOR

I also believed that one should see, listen, and learn more in youth, in which he or she is motivated, so that he or she can look back on such experiences in the future.

Since promoting and publicizing the activities of KPA to the society is significant, I serve in a public relations committee and explain its works at the public level. As a young pharmacist, fresh perspectives seem to be helpful.

BV : What is the ‘Cham Yag Hyeob’?

What does this group have in vision?

‘Cham Yag Hyeob’ is the abbreviation for ‘cooperatives for fostering genuine pharmacists’. Some of the newly graduated young pharmacists gathered and initiated this group in 2013, and now I’m the representative of this organization. We aim to help and educate pharmacy management through various educational contentsfor pharmacists. For example, we support study groups, create a card news or papers based on the subjects of various books, and share it via SNS. A recently launched ‘Pharmacist interview’ begins in the same vein. We also operate an online bookstore, named “Pharmway”. Pharmway sells and distributes books related to pharmacists, like ‘Drug Muggers’, ‘24-hour Pharmacist’. We would like to strengthen the expertise and foster their roles to improve health by our healthy-life care texts provided.

BV : As a senior, do you have any advice for pharmacy students?

First of all, I never expected myself to do a cooperative publishing business as this when I was a student. So, I think it is important to participate in various extracurricular activities, whether or not they directly help you as a student. Consider what you are interested in, it is still fine even if they are not related to the study. All those experiences will construct a solid foundation, creating a synergic effect to your major.

Secondly, I hope pharmacy students to be interested in the activities from ‘Proper Drug Usage Center’ and ‘Drug Adverse Effect Reporting Center’ mentioned above. After the separation of dispensing and prescribing functions, it is true that the major role of pharmacists was biased towards prescribed drug preparation.

Nowadays, we are struggling with expanding social roles of pharmacists. Young pharmacists and pharmacy students are the leaders of future pharmacists’ society.

Therefore, I would like you to contemplate about the various roles of pharmacist, considering ways for pharmacist to become a more socially respected profession. On the same scope, I want to introduce ‘Visit Medicine Counseling’, in which pharmacist visit patient’s house prescribing medicines and providing medication instructions.

In the past, only experts had the information about medicine. But these days, information is open and overflowing. Therefore, the role of real pharmacists has changed from simply delivering information to selecting and delivering the right one from the overflowing information. Also, no matter how artificial intelligence is evolving, emotion is difficult to be replaced simply by a robot. Therefore, I hope you to become a pharmacist who can communicate with and sympathize with patients and their pain as well.

Every pharmacist should do well together as a group, not as an individual. Since pharmacist is licensed by the government, we should contribute to the society. Thus, I hope many pharmacists work together to contemplate on the social roles of pharmacists to meet the social demands. Personally, I also want to be a helpful pharmacist, and at the same time, I hope students will also be interested in these activities and become pharmacists who can help the hard stratum. B 2017 VOL.12

11

NATIONAL ISSUE

BIOPAY

Can I Pay with My Body?

Soyeon Kim

ssoyeon5012@naver.com

BioPay is a payment method that allows consumers to make transactions by identifying themselves with a part of their body linked to a pre-assigned credit card. Biometric traits such as fingerprint, veins on the palm or back of the hands, voice, and iris carry a variety of distinguishable information to authenticate oneself. BioPay basically uses uniqueness of information and integrates it with electronic payment system or billing system.

7-Eleven has partnered with Lotte Card and Lotte Data Communication to launch its first smart convenience store equipped with a BioPay system in Seoul, South Korea. The 7-Eleven store at Lotte World Tower opened on May 16, 2017, and it uses the HandPay system, in which individuals are recognized by the veins on the palm of their hand. The method was selected over fingerprint and iris scanning because it was considered to be more convenient for the customers.

12

THE BLUE VANGUARD

NATIONAL ISSUE

Prior to that, in 2016, BC Card has developed a billing technology that adopts voices as the means of authentication for the first time in Korea and has conducted beta testing for employees. BC Card plans to offer Voice Pay service that allows customers to pay by voice only through mISP, a mobile payment application. Customers who have

registered the BC card in the mISP application can click the Voice Authentication Registration button to save the voice of “Pay with my voice” on the smart phone and finish the transaction by saying the same phrase when making a payment.

BioPay is expected to become the next-generation payment authentication method because it can dramatically simplify the payment process. In addition, bio-information is risk-free of loss and difficult to duplicate with present medical and engineering technology, which is why BioPay is in the limelight.

BIOPAY

C

an you imagine paying without cash or credit card but with your body? Science and technology develop rapidly over time and pervade our lives.

Methods of payment are no exception.

However, there are a lot of hoops to jump for BioPay to be generalized. The accuracy and speed of reading the body parts is the key.

As an example, according to Korea Financial Telecommunications and Clearings Institute (KFTC), the rejection rate of the palm vein authentication (mistaken as someone else) is as small as 0.01% to 0.1%, but it does not mean that errors never occur. In addition, as a large number of retail stores need to have a dedicated reader for body signal, it will take time to commercialize this system as well. Moreover, some officials have raised concerns about its security issues.

One of them said, “Biometric information is vulnerable to retransmission attacks as it sends fixed information every transaction.”

Biometric data is considerably accurate because it is the one and only information, however, there is no way to cope with exposure hazards because people cannot change the data as they do with passwords.

BioPay is expanding as it is recognized as a safe and convenient technology. Unlike the public certificates or OTPs that we have been using from the past, there is little chance of being lost or leaked. However, there is a precondition given that high-level technology and safety should be supported. Currently, Korea has a “Guideline for Biological Information Protection” based on the law of protecting personal information principle.

But, there is no obligation to observe these guidelines for companies who handle biometric information. Therefore, the need for enactment of ‘Biometric Information Act’ is arising. In line with the commercialization of BioPay technology, legal protection measures should follow. B

2017 VOL.12

13

INTERNATIONAL

A Rising Cancer Immunotherapy HyeongGu Kwon

rgr4208@naver.com

I

n the near future, patient A visits a hospital for lethargy and fatigue, and the doctor diagnoses as liver cancer. Patient A is greatly startled, but the doctor is still calm, and he just prescribed tablets only for a month. During 30 days, Patient A wonders whether the cancer is cured or not. Surprisingly, the tumor is perfectly removed.

Discovery of Anticancer Drug This situation may shortly come to our daily life because the recent research about ‘cancer immunotherapy’, which is the leading technology of cancer conquer, commercializes it. Many anticancer drugs were developed before the onset of immunotherapy. This article will introduce most recent cancer researches and many anticancer drugs that use immunotherapy.

To study Oncology, almost every field in life science is needed to be understood. Thus, the development of life science shared the same joys and sorrows with the research of anticancer drugs. In 1971, with the U.S. president Nixon’s declare about war against cancer, world poured billions of dollars to understand the disease. Until then, people thought that the reason people get cancer was due to the virus. Through the studies, people gradually realized the importance of molecular biology in cancer.

The beginning of anticancer drug was a biochemical weapon used in World War I. Scientists developed medicines by utilizing the toxicity of weapon in an opposite purpose, killing cancer cells. After this, early anticancer drugs as well as their mechanisms of how cancer cells survive were developed. ‘Warburg theory’,

14

THE BLUE VANGUARD

Nitrogen Mustrad

Melphalan

Chlorambucil

Cyclophosphamide

Fig.1 The structure of 'Nitrogen mustard', which is used biochemical weapon and therapical chemicals from niturgne mustard.

which suggests cancer getting more glycolysis, is an example.

However, people began to work on better anticancer drugs with specificity in cancer because the first-generation anticancer drugs had severe side-effects such as high toxicity to normal cells and the non-specificity of cancer cells.

INTERNATIONAL

Efforts of Improving Specificity to Cancer The second-generation anticancer drugs covered these problems. They are called ‘target anticancer drugs’ due to the fact that they attack their own targeted cancer cells. The principle of target therapy is attacking specific genetic mutation, which appears only in cancer. The most acknowledged target anticancer drug is ‘Imatinib mesylate’, a Gleevec. It is targeting the tyrosine-kinase, which is known for having important role in cancer. It has an effictive in CML(Chronic Myeloid Leukemia).

However, due to cancer diversity, specific mutation in cancer does not show up in every patient. Thus, certain drugs that target specific mutations are considered less effective. Moreover, cancer can change their characteristics as to be tolerate at targeting mutation site.

Recently, ‘immune anticancer drug’, the third-generation anticancer drug is getting spotlights because of its merits and commercialization. Immune therapy is the technology of improving a function of immune cells and curing the cancer at the same time. Genetically manipulated immune cells to be sensitive to cancer cells enhances specificity and facilitates to access cancer cells which reside in deeper area of the body where surgical treatment is hardly done.

Immune therapy becomes more available with the introduction of CRISPR-cas9, the ‘gene scissors’. The gene scissors overcome defects of restriction enzymes (they can be used only if the condition corresponds with their characters.) and cut and paste the right place of gene where the researcher wants. It makes gene manipulation easier including that of immune cells, resulting in boosting the development of immunotherapy. Recently, the Novartis’ ‘tisagenlecleucel-T(CTL019)’ was approved by the FDA in unanimity. Moreover, the Gilead Science has been focusing on CAR-T cell therapy by merging Kite Pharma Inc. which is specialized at CAR-T technology.

Fig.2 The sturucture of Imatinib mesylate, Gleevec.

Fig.3 The principle of CRISPR-cas9 DNA cleavage. 1.The cas9 protein forms a complex with guide RNA in a cell. 2.This complex attaches to a matching genomic DNA sequence adjacent to a spacer(yellow segment). 3.The Cas9-RNA complex cuts the double strands of the DNA 4.Programmed DNA may be inserted ate the cut

Yet, immune anticancer drugs are still very expensive and have some side-effects that the immune cell could be leukemia. But it seems to be clear that the gene editing technology will be more exquisite and immunotherapy lead the main paradigm of anticancer market.

As such, the world is changing. Researchers are following the latest technology and conquering diseases. It is important to maintain quality of life in aging society. Everyone hopes that they could get better understandings about cancer as soon as possible and enjoy well-being future life. B

2017 VOL.12

15

NATIONAL ISSUE

Working For Public :

The Public Pharmacists in Korea

YongWook Kim demosca1911@yonsei.ac.kr

W

hen we ask about the public pharmacist to public or freshman of pharmaceutical university, they usually say "I don’t know well." It is because people are not interested in public pharmacists. However, they can work in various departments and each of them has charming parts which people can be interested in it. In this article, I am going to introduce the departments that public pharmacists can work at.

Public Health Care Center

According to the statistics, only 0.4% to 0.8% of the directors of healthcare center have pharmacist licenses in 2014 and 2015. It was due to the low income compared to pharmacists of private sector.

But, they have lower work intensity than other places and have more time to relax and self-develop.

Also, healthcare center is one of the places that public pharmacists can be closet to the patients.

The Korean Intellectual Property Office(KIPO) In public healthcare center, pharmacists are usually employed as 7th grade officer. The main businesses for them are administrative work and maintenance of medical supplies. Pharmacists are one of the professionals who can work with the main tasks of the healthcare center. But healthcare center always suffers from lack of pharmacists.

16

THE BLUE VANGUARD

The examiners of the Korean Intellectual Property Office compares new inventions with existing drugs and decides to give patent to it. Pharmacists usually work in Pharmaceutical Examination Division and Bio Examination Division. They analyze the patent applications and write document to make others to know the characteristics and ideas of the invention. When

NATIONAL ISSUE

study of DNA. Also, they analyze and manage the DNA information database. In drug analysis division, researchers study whether the samples have drug effect or toxic effect. Also, they manage KOLAS (Korea Laboratory Accreditation Scheme) and standard material producing organizations.

examiners get promoted, they will become secretaries who approve patent application.

Thanks to the characteristics of this job, it is not necessary to go to work everyday. So examiners can telecommute several days a week. However, since the main work is reading and analyzing the documents, they may get a lot of eye fatigue and pain on their backs and shoulders.

Studying new inventions and granting patents to appropriate ones can help the development of pharmaceutical technology and industry by encouraging researchers to feel that they can get proper rewards. One of the most necessary things for examiners is to experience in pharmaceutical company. Since their works are usually done besides the desk, they rarely visit industry site.

So, the distance from the site is easily created and the experience in pharmaceutical company can compensate this problem.

Pharmaceutical examiners will range from action officer(6th grade officer) to commissioner (2th grade officer). Because examiners study high-end technologies, they are recommended to have master’s degree or doctor’s degree. In general case, the master is employed as 6th grade officer and doctor is employed as 5th grade officer.

National Forensic Service In the National Forensic Service, pharmacists usually work at the legal genetics division and drug analysis division. In law genetics division, researchers conduct

In Korea, there are few organizations that analyze the crime-related samples, thus, most of them are sent to NFS. Because of this situation, researchers of NFS always suffer from heavy workload and stress. Another reason for this laboriousness is that even a small sample can make a huge impact to someone. On the contrary, this field could be helpful by vindicating innocent people and arrest criminals.

Pharmacists are usually employed as 6th grade health researchers. Job experience, English proficiency test, and preferential requirements will be considered in recruitment process. Preferential requirements include master’s and doctoral degrees in related fields.

In addition to the departments described above, there are various methods to become public pharmacists, including the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the Disease Control Headquarters, the correctional officer, and the National Intelligence Service. Each department has different characteristics and requirements to work. But no matter where they work, they need to pay attention to people because the biggest driving force of public pharmacists is that they can contribute to the society, even though their income may be less than that of civil pharmacists. B

2017 VOL.12

17

NATIONAL ISSUE

Drug Induced AccIDENTS DRUG DECEPtION Dayoung Kim

F

961211dy@yonsei.ac.kr

ollowing the synthesis of the first drug Aspirin, a significant number of drugs has been released with the advance in studies and technology. Nowadays, drugs have treated many diseases, saved many lives and helped lengthening our lifespan. According to ‘The New England Journal of Medicine’, mortality rate due to rheumatic fever has dramatically

declined after penicillin was invented. Although drugs have made a great contribution to human society as mentioned

above, they are “chemicals” that could negatively affect human body and cause unwanted physiological changes. Drugs originally intended for treatment could result in medical catastrophes, leaving numerous victims.

Thalidomide

18

MER/29

In the 1960s, a doctor named William McBride

MER/29 appeared in the 1960s as the first

wondered about abnormal increase in the number

synthetic drug to lower cholesterol level by

of severely birth defected infants, especially with

inhibiting the last step of cholesterol biosynthesis. It

malformation of the limbs. In his struggle for searching

prevented desmosterol (24-dehydrocholesterol), the

the truth, he discovered that the pregnant mothers

intermediate precursor to cholesterol, from undergoing

were taking a drug called “thalidomide” to alleviate

hydrogenation, subsequently decreasing cholesterol

morning sickness. This tragedy occurred all around

level in tissues. However, it was soon withdrawn from

the world, including Germany, England, Canada, and

the drug market because higher level of desmosterol

Japan. Thalidomide, a drug developed as a sedative and

resulted in adverse effects, such as severe ichthyosis,

tranquilizer, was invented by a drug company in West

alopecia and irreversible cataract. After the successive

Germany and was marketed in 1957. It was supposed

tragedies concerning thalidomide and triparanol, a

to reduce irritability, excitement and related states of

new regulation called ‘Kefauver-Harris amendment’

mental disturbance.

Thalidomide includes a chiral

was established in 1962: manufacturer of new drug

center that can interconvert between (R)-thalidomide

was required to submit data which prove new drug’s

and (S)-thalidomide, and the drug was sold as a racemic

safety and efficacy for FDA approval. On top of that,

mixture. However, further studies revealed that the

RCT (Randomized Controlled Trial, a study in which

(R) enantiomer had the intended sedative effect, while

the participants are allocated by chance to receive one

the (S) enantiomer exhibited a lethal effect, which

of several clinical interventions) became a mandatory

ultimately caused the thalidomide tragedy.

process to show the drug’s effectiveness.

THE BLUE VANGUARD

NATIONAL ISSUE

Sorivudine In 1993, sorivudine was released in Japan as an antiviral drug to treat herpes simplex, herpes zoster, and chicken pox, and much more. Since herpes virus was likely to attack people with a weakened immune system, patients with cancer were subjected to infection. Therefore, these patients received a combined dose of drugs of sorivudine and an anticancer drug named ‘5-fluorouracil’.

However, over ten deaths were reported within two weeks of its release due to fatal drug-drug interaction.

Sorivudine was

metabolized to 5-bromovinyluracil, which irreversibly bonds to dihydrothymine dehydrogenase, which had a role of detoxifying of 5-fluorouracil, thereby causing inhibition of the dehydrogenase. As a result, the inactive dehydrogenase gave rise to a dramatic increase in concentration of 5-fluorouracil, which led to decreased level of leukocyte and platelet, ultimately causing patients’ death.

Conclusion The three examples mentioned above involve an unbelievable fact related to the major cause of the disasters: despite the side-effect warning associated with the drugs, the pharmaceutical companies never ceased selling them. In the end, the greed of pharmaceutical companies led to a worldwide disaster.

On the other hand, there was a case that saved the United States from the thalidomide tragedy. Frances Oldham Kelsey, an FDA inspector, blocked the approval of the drug on the grounds, insisting that data ensuring the drug’s safety were insufficient. Although her superiors and the drug manufacturers put pressure on her, she never approved the drug. Thanks to her struggle, the United States could evade from the risk.

Furthermore, in the case of Thalidomide, Jacob Scheskin, an Israeli dermatologist, dosed a leprosy (Hansen’s disease) patient with thalidomide. This patient was constantly in a negative condition despite several treatments.

Following treatment with thalidomide, the patient’s condition dramatically enhanced, and a new usage of thalidomide was evaluated. Moreover, Dr. Judah Folkman, a pioneer in the study of tumor angiogenesis, revealed that thalidomide interferes with the formation of new blood vessels, and thus, it could be effective in curing cancer. In 1998, FDA finally approved the efficacy of thalidomide in curing erythema nodosum leprosum (ENL), regardless of strict control and regulation. Consequently, thalidomide was recognized as a promising future. Thus, a drug once withdrawn from the pharmaceutical market could be brought back into light through the discovery of previously unknown benefits.

Concerning the incidents in the past, one who pursues in pharmacy should keep in mind of the “Oath of Dioscorides”; “I will consider the welfare of humanity and relief of suffering my primary concerns”, and “I will apply my knowledge, experience, and skills to the best of my ability to assure optimal outcomes for my patients”.

Pharmacists should always be responsible for their actions and never overlook safety concerns. B

2017 VOL.12

19

Hair Total Solution

스템모어

COLUMN

Bath Salt: a Zombie Drug

YoonJu Jang

sarahjang99@naver.com

O

n SBS’s “Anxious Story Y” broadcast on November 10th, 2017 revealed a man who showed bizarre behavior like a zombie by biting the nape of his family. It was speculated that a man

who broke into a house in the middle of the night and bit his family would be using ‘bath salt’,

a so-called zombie drug. In a similar case in Miami in 2012, a man who took the pill as a result of eating a homeless man’s face raised a global topic. So what is the drug called ‘bath salt’?

Synthetic cathinones, more commonly known as bath salts, are synthetic drugs chemically related to cathinone, a stimulant found in the khat plant. Khat is a shrub grown in East Africa and Southern Arabia, and people sometimes chew its leaves for their mild stimulant effects. Synthetic variants of cathinone can be much stronger than the natural product and, in some cases, very dangerous to their physical and mental health in various ways in a number of ways.

The most commonly reported ingredient in bath salts is methylenedioxypyrovalerone (MDPV), although other stimulants may be present, such as mephedrone and pyrovalerone. Synthetic cathinones are included in a group of drugs that concern public health officials called ‘new psychoactive substances’ (NPS). NPS are unregulated psychoactive substances that have become newly available on the market and are intended to copy the effects of illegal drugs. Some of these substances may have been around for years but have reentered the market in altered chemical forms or due to renewed popularity.

Bath salts, packaged in powder form in small plastic or foil packages of 200 to 500 milligrams, sold for roughly $20 per package. Most packages were labeled ‘not for human consumption’. The bath salt powder appeared white, off-white or slightly yellow-colored. They are noted for producing a “high” similar to methamphetamine and have been called “legal cocaine”. Bath salt users usually snort the drug intra-nasally, but it can also been injected, smoked, orally ingested or used rectally. Effects may occur with doses as low as three to five milligrams, but average doses range from 5 to 20 milligrams. There is a great risk for overdose because retail packages may contain up to 500 milligrams. If ingested orally, absorption is rapid with a peak ‘rush’ at 1.5 hours, the effect lasting three to four hours, then a hard ‘crash’. The total bath salts experience may last upwards of 8 hours.

Bath salts have been reported to have a powerful addictive potential, as well as the ability to induce tolerance.

Reports note intense cravings similar to what methamphetamine users experience. As bath salts may be cut with other unknown and potentially addictive substances, the true magnitude of toxicity and addiction may be even higher. B

2017 VOL.12

21

COLUMN

The Truth About Sanitary Pads Chae Yeon Won sophiachaeyeon@gmail.com

A

ccording to the recent research, one of the best-selling sanitary pads in Korea, Lillian sanitary pad, became notorious for containing carcinogen called ‘styrene’, a very harmful chemical compound for female genitals. Lillian sanitary pads were known for getting safety marks from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety and were distributed to girls who were not privileged. Discovering styrene in this sanitary pad was a very shocking news for all the Korean people who were using the product. Until now, 2000 cases of adverse effects of Lillian pads have been reported, and lots of victims are preparing for legal procedures.

To this phenomena, KleanNara, the company producing Lillian sanitary pads, took action of refunding all the products. However, the problem was that Lillian sanitary pads were not the only product that possesses dangerous substances. Other top ten selling sanitary pads all had been found to have carcinogens.

According to the report, carcinogenic substances such as styrene, benzene, trichloroethylene have been found.

Reproductive development toxic substance like tolune and harmful skin irritants, 1,2,4-trimethylbenzene, xylene, and heptane had been found as well.

Moreover, according to interviews of victims of Female Welfare association, lots of woman experienced irregular menstruation cycle, shortening of period duration, and some of them even had uteralgia. TVOC is a carbohydrate compound that produces ozone through volatilization in the air. It produces cancer via physical contact and inhalation. Moreover, excessive amount of toxic chemicals has been found as well. Benzene and Styrene are the typical toxic chemicals. Benzene is a colorless hydrophobic liquid that is combustible. Therefore, it is often used as an additive of gasoline. Styrene dissolves well in organic solvent; it also has vinyl functional group, so it easily polymerizes and becomes macromolecules.

22

THE BLUE VANGUARD

According to the ministry of food and drug safety, Lillian sanitary pads had safety mark and were distributed in the market without any caution. The company should have reacted more rapidly to this problem, but it was too complacent in such a phenomena.

The representative of KleanNara said, “We have thought that it is a responsible act to listen to the customers’ voices and reflect them.” as grounds of its refund system. They also apologized for such a chaotic result. Customers who had already bought the products could get refunds, regardless of their possession of receipts or their purchase date. Moreover, as the voices of dissatisfaction of the products were loud, the company also asserted that it will actively respond to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety’s request of testing the safety of the products.

However, some people still had complaints of the refund system. They were dissatisfied with, saying “the refund system is so slow and time consuming that it will be better to just throw the products away”. There are still some customers remaining who did not receive refund yet even though it has been over two months since the sanitary shock. Even worse, some customers still cannot contact the customer service system.

COLUMN

Other than such a slow reaction, such a low refund price is another main complaint factor. The refund price that company suggested is relatively so low compared to the original price. In addition, some people received one fifth price of the refund price.

One customer said she received 8,000won instead of 40,000, the refund price that she had to receive.

Lastly, the period that the company received refund request was relatively so short The KleanNara company only received refund request for only 18days, from August 18th to September 15th. Customers who heard of refund system late were so bewildered of the short duration.

Moreover, the refund system was complicated for some elder people who do not know how to operate high tech.

Moreover, the refund system was complicated for some elder people who do not know how to operate high tech.

Overall, KleanNara’s disappointing reaction to this shock was another social issue. Since now, KleanNara has been very exemplary in many aspects. However, recent reaction was very disappointing. After Korean Food and Drugs Administration’s announcement saying that the Lillian sanitary pads are not harmful, KleanNara has resold the pads. It was fast on reselling the products, but slow on refunding them.

As an alternative to these problematic sanitary pads, sanitary cups are gaining public interests. Sanitary cups are already prevalent in foreign countries. They are bell-shaped sanitary cups made out of silicon.

The advantages of sanitary cups are they are very unharmful to woman, ecnomical when used many times, ecofriendly since they do not make any waste, smoother when worn and never spill any blood.

Although some disadvantages of sanitary cups still remain, they do not overcome the benefits. Some say that the procedure of using them is hard at first. However, this problem can be fixed as people become familiar with the procedure as they use many times. Another con is that it is costly at first, pricing from about 20,000 won to 30,000 won. However, this is not that expensive, considering that the products can be used many times. If the overall price in long period gets measured, then it will be more economical to use sanitary cups than pads. The last disadvantage is that it is uncomfortable to use other than home since sanitary cups need to be washed daily.

However, this can be done in anywhere that has washroom.

To sum up, all the benefits overcome the costs of the sanitary cups. With these advantages, sanitary cups are being sold out in the market in a rapid pace. B

2017 VOL.12

23

COLUMN

Changes and Improvements Sol Kwon

:

rnjsthf94@naver.com

T

he Korean pharmacist license test system was enacted on December 18, 1953 and initially enacted as an act of

Parliament on January 28, 1954 by the Pharmaceutical

Affairs Law. This law was established for the purposes of regulating pharmaceutical matters and contributing to the improvement of public health by suggesting pharmacists and their roles. The Pharmaceutical Affairs Law prescribes the applicant of the test, the number of trials, the qualification of examination and the

restriction of licensing, which is the frame of the pharmacist license

test system. The contents of it such as subjects, test method, decision method of successful applicants, etc. are regulated by the Enforcement Decree of the Pharmaceutical Affairs Law.

As the transition from the existing four-year to the six-year pharmacy college system began in 2009, there has been a great change in addition of clinical pharmacy, social pharmacy and practical training to the educational goals and curriculum of the College of Pharmacy. Accordingly, it has been argued that the pharmacist license test system should reflect the educational goals and curriculum of the six-year pharmacy college and verifies the job performance. As a result of vigorous research, eleven test subjects focusing on natural science including ‘Quantitative Analysis’ and ‘Qualitative Analysis’, which have been going on for more than 60 years, were integrated into two test subjects, ‘Life Pharmacology’ and ‘Industrial Pharmacology’. There has also been a major transformation, including the addition of ‘Clinical and Practical Pharmacy’ as new test subjects. Also, in addition to the conventional pharmacopoeial laws, the National Health Promotion Act, the Health and Medical Care Basic Law, the National Health Insurance Act, and the Local Health are included into the contests of the subject related laws and regulations. Thanks to this, the pharmacist function extends not only to medicine, but also to health and medical care for public health promotion. Unfortunately, however, many experts argue that revisions must be made on this issue for the pharmacists to be enable of providing pharmaceutical care services to patients more effectively. The followings are the tasks they mentioned.

24

THE BLUE VANGUARD

COLUMN

First, the inclusion of the ‘Biopharmaceutical Pharmacology’ and ‘Industrial Pharmacology’ in the test subjects is the part of the process of improving the pharmacist licensing examination system in the future. Biopharmaceutical and industrial pharmacology are the basic knowledge needed to perform pharmacist functions, but they are not the knowledge and functions directly used to perform these. In order to obtain a pharmacist license, the Pharmaceutical Affairs Law of Korea requires to be verified by the Ministry of Health and Welfare, in spite of the fact that it has already been approved by the Ministry of Education’s bachelor’s administration. Therefore, the pharmacist license test, which is part of the health administration, aims at verifying the knowledge and the function directly required to perform the role as a health care professional beyond the basic knowledge. In this regard, the knowledge of biopharmacy and industrial pharmacology is already proved by the educational administration, so it is considered that there is no need to be verified by the health administration.

Second, in the details of clinical and practical pharmacy examination courses, the scope of practice is also necessary to be reconsidered. According to the newly revised enforcement regulations, the production and quality control of medicines, pharmaceutical administration and management are included in details of the practical pharmacy. However, countries that put this knowledge into practices are unprecedented in the world. The manufacturing and quality control of medicines have been considered as practices, as a result of the assertion that only a person with a pharmacist license can perform this task. However, Article 36 of the Pharmaceutical Affairs Law stipulates the pharmacist or herbal medicine as a requirement of the pharmaceutical manufacturing manager. In the case of biological products, the requirement for the manufacturing manager is defined as a doctor or a bacteriologist. Thus, in terms of the provisions of the Pharmaceutical Affairs Law, manufacturing and quality control of pharmaceuticals cannot be regarded as a unique function and task performed only by a pharmacist.

The pharmacist license test is the first hurdle for pharmaceutical students to jump over to work as a pharmacist in Korea. Also, it is the fundamental test that verifies the capacity as a pharmacist. Thus, the above revisions are argued vigorously to make it function properly. People hope that it will be ready to reflect the present situation as soon as it has changed well in accordance with the situation of the time so far. B

2017 VOL.12

25

COLUMN

Life On-Campus: Binge Drinking at a Pharmacist’s view

Grace Eun Yi Kim

A

high-key drinking session extends far beyond getting hammered at every opportunity but on the surface this is quite often overlooked. Stuck together by the media and tales from incumbent college students, the crude batch of images surrounded with alcohol intake-or in other words, binge drinking-arises as an issue. But alcohol is an important social lubricant in Korean society, especially for college students. It is undeniable that it does provide the occasional escape from work overload, and in fact, almost every social event on campus comes hand-in-hand with alcohol. However, as much as alcohol indulgence is now a common definition of entrance to college, it becomes one of the biggest issues of college life. Yonsei’s Songdo campus, in particular, rises above the surface of the issue, where freedom relent to themseleves to anything. Drinking behavior as such elevates the level of controversy on whether or not it is an issue or a sine qua non to college students. At the heart of the controversy, the debate goes on into two branches: alcohol-induced diseases, and OTC drug abuse.

In the light of alcohol-induced diseases, the severity of the health risks is not yet cognized enough.

Excess alcohol intake adversely affects the brain, the liver, the kidneys, the heart, the blood vessels, the lining of the stomach, and the list goes on. Indeed, the first symptoms of ethanol intoxication on the brain are, in fact, quite pleasurable for most people. Here, most people are well aware of the immediate physiological consequences: the presence of headache, diarrhea, nausea, and so on. What is less well recognized is the long term effects. As for its uptake, alcohol is metabolized by the liver—the site where enzymes break it down into a chemical form, denoted as acetaldehyde.

26

THE BLUE VANGUARD

kimgr2002@gmail.com

Acetaldehyde is destined to oxidize to acetate and hence to decompose into simpler compounds. An ethanol-toacetaldehyde metabolism, and a consequent acetaldehyde -to-acetate metabolism is regulated by crucial enzymes in the body. Aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH), the key enzyme in the oxidation mechanism, converts acetaldehyde into acetate, a relatively innocuous compound when generated in moderate concentrations during alcohol metabolism. However, if alcohol concentration exceedsthe level ALDH alone can handle, the body will result in an over-accumulation of acetaldehyde, causing redness.

But the consequence that followsis more deleterious than this. Alcohol itself readily diffuses across membranes, acutely affecting cell function by interacting with crucial proteins and cell membranes. But on top of that, acetaldehyde generation leads to the formation of damaging molecules known as reactive oxygen species (ROS), and thus a change in the reduction–oxidation state of liver cells.Chronic alcohol consumption and alcohol metabolism, therefore, are strongly linked to several pathological consequences and tissue damage. Hence, understanding how the accumulation of potentially damaging byproducts affects other metabolic pathways is essential for appreciating both the short-term and long-term effects of the body’s response to alcohol intake.

TO DRINK

COLUMN

NOT TO DRINK

College Hangout Scene is also Crippled by

Alcohol and Drug Abuse

Acetaminophen and alcohol

“Most people take OTC medication without any input from pharmacists or physicians, and that’s where the public-health concern is,” says the head of Pharmaceutical Department of Yonsei University, Han Gyoon Hee. As much as excessive drinking habit itself poses health risks, obliviously mixing alcohol and medications elevates the risk to a greater fold.

Although the health consequences surrounded by this cut greater into the fabric of our society, the fact that most alcohol consumers are not aware of the dangers calls for immediate medical attention.

Tylenol, or any other painkillers easily available over-the-counter, are at most in the form of acetaminophen. Kicking off a hard-core drink out session commonly brings alcohol consumers a heartbeat away from acetaminophen intake, and this is where most deleterious effects occur. As much as acetaminophen is a powerful medication, its abuse alone poses risk of liver failure but when combined with alcohol, the damaging effect amplifies to a greater fold. Interaction between alcohol and acetaminophen increases the production of NAPQI, a highly reactive and toxic metabolite. Repeated intake as such yields a drug-alcohol interaction, resulting in abnormality and in this case, liver failure.

(Note that the liver is the center of metabolism of the human body)

Dextromethorphan (DXM) and Alcohol Another popular drug combination is that of alcohol and cough syrup. DXM acts as a central nervous system depressant when taken in high doses. Since alcohol acts in the same way, the combination of the two gives a synergistic effect.

Concurrent consumption of both alcohol and the drug brings about intoxication to different levels of side-effects and because the symptoms involve partial dissociation and loss of coordination, this is where the problem arises; reduced visual acuity and incoordination is already a consequence of binge drinking. So, it is hard to realize if the side effects are in fact the consequence of drug interaction.

The list goes on for other medications; nerve pills, namely sedatives, that include benzodiazepines (Valium, Halcion, Ativan and Xanax) and barbiturates can easily lead to accidental overdose when mixed with alcohol.

It is thus clear that excessive drinking habits not only are associated with intoxicated behavior, but also with drug abuse (aka lethal combination).

“Going out”, “having fun”, or “socializing” is becoming synonymous with binge drinking, while it is clear that drunkenness is not the only way we can have fun. Drinking can, and always will be a big part of that, especially in college, but when abused to the point where socializing becomes impossible, won’t it defeat the whole point of drinking in the first place? B

2017 VOL.12

27

CAMPUS LIFE

Field Trip to Handok Factory JeYoung Son

O

wpdud3944@naver.com

n May 24, freshmen and sophomores fo Yonsei pharmacy went on a field trip to the Handok factory

in Eumseong. The students were very excited because it was a first time to go on a field trip in the first

semester. The weather was also perfect and the bus going to the Handok factory and museum was full

of student’s pleasant chatting sound.

On May 24, freshmen and sophomores of Yonsei pharmacy went on a field trip to the Handok factory. An employee showed a short clip about the Handok company before we went on a tour through the factory. First, the video told us about the history of the corporation. Handok drug company’s matrix is Union Drug corporation established in 1954. Union Drug corporation changed its name to Handok in 1958 after technical assistant agreement with Hoechst company of Germany. Then, Handok started its own management in 2006. Next part of the clip was about the structure of the company and its business fields.

Handok manages its head office in Gangnam, factory and central laboratory in Eumseong. The company produces prescription medicines, non-prescription medicines, medical instruments, health fuctional foods, medical nutritions and gene care services. Some representative pharmaceutical products of Handok is Ketotop, medicine for muscle pain and ReadyQ that is good for relieving hangover. Subsequently, the video demonstrated their achievements and diverse programs, such as telecommuting work and education

28

The Blue Vanguard

CAMPUS LIFE

programs for employee and regular volunteer activities.

The factory tour was started in earnest after watching the video. Handok Eumseong factory was established in 1995. Handok factory had hardware infra and producing abilities that satisfy the newest Global GMP regulations. It also started Manufacturing Execution System Shop Floor (MES), Building Monitoring System (BMS) and Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS) to become a global producing factory. Also, the factory was constructed by the regulations of WHO and FDA and produced drugs on consignment with high quality and resonable price. Consignment means that Handok factory makes medicine products instead of the other corporations that do not have facilities to produce drugs. During the trip, the employee described the drug making methods and introduced the machines following the manufacturing process. In summry, drugs are made by the extracing, grinding and compressing process. The system of making the products was almost automatic and the employee just did a supportive role. Each procedures seemed to be smoothly well connected in the factory.

I thought that the roles of pharmacists should be more professional to the automation era.

Next schedule was visiting Handok Museum of Medicine and Pharmacy. This time, a different guide introduced the museum. The museum displays about 1 millions of relics of medicine and pharmacy and is

divided into five halls of Korea, International, Jesuck, Handok historical records room and outdoor showroom.

Korea hall displayed from traditional Korean medicines to modern things with a national treasure ‘Cheong ja sang gam sang yak guk myeong hap’, while international hall exhibited medical history of East and West. One ipressive thing at the international hall was the pharmacy showroom that recreated an old Germany’s drug store.

The old drug store was more similar to the oriental medical clinic than the present pharmacy. The old drug store was more similar to the oriental medical clinic than the present pharmacy. By walking around the museum, I could learn about the medical history and feel the atmosphere of the old pharmacy. Handok museum also hosts diverse exhibitions. The museum is now displaying a life gallery exhibition 29th November. I recommend to look around the gallery if you have a time.

Through the field trip to Handok Eumseong factory and museum, the students said that they could understand the whole drug manufacturing process in details. Students also advocated that they had chances to consider about future roles of pharmacist in the society and how to adapt to the new automatic system. I thought studying the textbooks and taking many exams might be an easy way to get professional knowledge about the drugs, however, having a hand-on experience in reality could be more effective to students and encountering diverse fields of pharmacists is necessary to students. B

2017 VOL.12

29

EPILOGUE

30

THE BLUE VANGUARD

EPILOGUE

The Blue Vanguard is a team effort, and producing it would be impossible without the outstanding editors and designers, as well as professors who supported us at every step along the way. They generously gave of their time and efforts by making contributions to specific topics in their areas of interest, providing readers with detailed information of what they have investigated. We appreciate the work of present and past editors and designers, and we feel very fortunate to have such gifted members in our club.

Do Hyun Lee, Yonsei University, College of Pharmacy

2017 VOL.12

31

의료전문가용

† two-sided 95%CI [66.8%-88.3%], Full analysis set, †† two-sided 95%CI [52.5%-73.2%], Full analysis set, #자발통(Spontaneous Pain): 통증을 일으키는 다양한 자극요소 (운동, 체위의 변환, 압박, 한량 자극 등)의 가감 없이 평상시에 자연히 발생하는 통증 Reference 1. IMS 2014 3Q MAT data, 비타민 부문 2. Japan PMDA 허가용 임상연구 (Phase III), Masato Wakakura et al., VB-20T Open clinical study - A study on asthenopia. 2001. 3. Japan PMDA 허가용 임상연구, Akiyoshi Namiki et al., VB-20T Open clinical study - A study on Shoulder Muscle Stiffness and Low Back Pain. 2001.

액티넘이엑스골드정 [유효성분] 푸르설티아민염산염 36.39밀리그램, 피리독살포스페이트수화물 20.0밀리그램, 메코발라민 500.0마이크로그램, d-α-토코페롤숙시네이트 33.33밀리그램, γ-오리자놀 3.33밀리그램, 폴산 0.33밀리그램 [효능효과] 다음 증상의 완화: 눈의 피로, 근육통·관절통(어깨·목 결림, 요통, 오십견 등), 신경통, 손발의 저림 [용법용량] 15세 이상 소아 및 성인 : 1일 3회, 1회 1정을 식후 즉시 씹지 말고 복용할 것. [사용상의 주의사항] 1. 다음과 같은 사람은 이 약을 복용하지 말 것. 1) 이 약 및 이 약에 포함된 성분에 과민반응이 있는 환자, 2) 15세 미만의 소아 2. 이 약을 복용하는 동안 다음의 약을 복용하지 말 것. 1) 레보도파 [저장방법] 기밀용기, 실온(1-30℃), 차광하여 보관 [수입자] 한국다케다제약주식회사(서울특 별시 강남구 테헤란로 98길 8, 12층) [제조자] Takeda Healthcare Products Company Limited (Japan) * 이 내용은 허가사항을 요약한 것으로 자세한 정보는 제품의 첨부문서 또는 http://drug.mfds.go.kr를 확인하십시오.

서울특별시 강남구 테헤란로 98길 8 ,12층 (06181) | 제품 문의 080-553-3300 | www. actinum.co.kr

KO/AEG/2017-00025b/E2019Aug