As of 2022, the total market size of the wound dressings in Korea is estimated to be approximately USD *** million, about an increase of ***% compared to the previous year. Reimbursement volume is estimated to be approximately USD *** million – around ***% of the entire market.

Afterwards, it is expected to maintain an average annual growth rate of at least **% and as a result, the market size is projected to be approximately USD *** million in 2026. Reimbursement volume is projected to be USD *** million – around ***% of the entire market.

In 2021, the total wound dressing market in Korea is estimated as approximately USD *** million. This is an average annual growth of ***% from USD *** million in 2018, including the non-reimbursement part and the final purchase prices of retail distribution channels such as pharmacies and medical device stores. The reimbursement volume is estimated to be approximately USD *** million, accounting for about ***% of the wound dressing market.

The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety classifies wound dressings as a subcategory of Group B Medical Supplies. There were eighteen product names in total but three product names including Secondary Healing Saline Wound Dressing, Interaction Wound Dressing, and Warm-Sealed Wound Dressing were removed from the Product Notification after the Enforcement Decree on 20 November 2019. Therefore, they are not covered in detail in this report (cf. the MFDS Notification No. 2019-109).

Adhesion barrier dressings (product classification number B07070.14) are classified as wound dressings with the intended use of preventing adhesions of tissues and organs inside the body, but since their function is anti-adhesion, they are also excluded from this report.

In the same vein, Synthetic Material-Absorbable Wound Dressings (product classification number B07070.18), also known as endoscopic surgical hemostatic agents, are not included in this report. For Eugenol Periodontal Wound Dressings (product classification number B07070.17), there are no companies or products registered with the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, so they are not discussed in detail either.

One of the natures of the wound dressings is that a significant amount of them are used to patients with chronic diseases across multiple departments. Therefore, in order to obtain the most accurate figures possible, duplicate data are eliminated and stricter standards are applied than the previous 2019 report.

Readers who have already read the previous report may have questions about the decreased reimbursement volume. We encourage you to read this report after understanding the reasons described above.

Rather than comparing the reduced numbers to the previous report one-to-one, we recommend that our readers use this report to understand the overall trend of the wound dressing market. At a macro level, the wound dressing market continues to grow, but there have been several changes among the major players. From 2020 to 2022 the market has grown around Mepilex products of Mölnlycke and Pico of Smith & Nephew has seemed to gain momentum after 3M's acquisition of KCI. Detailed explanations are in Chapter 4 and 5.

Total wound dressing volume consumed by medical institutions appears to be as follows: hospital *** million units (***%), general hospital *** million units (***%), and tertiary hospital *** million units (***%). Hospitals and general hospitals use the largest amount of wound dressings. In terms of reimbursement volume by end-user type in 2021, tertiary-referral hospitals account for the largest portion around USD *** million (***%). General hospitals around about USD *** million (***%) and hospitals around USD *** million (***%) follow.

The number of wound dressings consumed by medical department is estimated as follows: General surgery at least *** million units (***%), orthopedic surgery at least *** million units (***%), and internal medicine at least *** million units (***%). In terms of the amount of reimbursement claims by medical department, it is estimated that internal medicine about USD *** million (***%), orthopedic surgery about USD *** million (***%), general surgery about USD *** million (***%), and plastic surgery about USD *** million (***%).

In 2022, *** manufacturers/importers play a part in the wound dressing market of Korea and this is more than ***% annual growth on average compared to 2018. The top *** companies account for approximately ***% of the whole market.

In terms of the market size by medical institutions' purchase prices is as follows. Mölnlycke Health Care USD *** million (***%), Smith&Nephew USD *** million (***%), Mundipharma USD *** million (***%), Ildong Pharmaceutical USD *** million (***%), Juthis USD *** million (***%), Daewoong Pharmaceutical/CGbio USD *** million (***%), Coloplast USD *** million (***%), Convatec USD *** million (***%), 3M USD *** million (***%), and others USD *** million (***%).

Among all the wound dressings, foam dressings still appear to lead the market. For non-reimbursement volume, topical-application medical devices (so-called "MD creams") are growing fast. These products are listed as 'skin protectors' on the National Health Insurance Product Group. Since the government does not control the selling prices, the suppliers have the power to determine them, and both the suppliers and the medical institutions perceive them as a relatively high-profit business. Therefore, not only those traditional pharmaceutical companies but also large companies of the cosmetics industry have entered the market, so intense competition is expected in the future.

The National Health Insurance Service is a double-edged sword, both an opportunity and a threat to the wound dressing market. The Park Geun-hye administration introduced select reimbursement and the Moon Jae-in administration introduced reserve reimbursement. In the name of expanding coverage, many wound dressings that were previously classified as non-reimbursement products were converted to reimbursement products, and the selling prices of the products were lowered.

Before the conversion, the suppliers were free to determine the selling prices of the non-reimbursement products. However, after converting non-reimbursement products to reimbursement products of the NHIS Reimbursement Therapeutics Materials List, reimbursement maximums are introduced prohibiting the sales of the products above the upper limit. It is expected that the the government’s conversion of non-reimbursement products into reimbursement products will continue and there will be significant ripple effect on the wound dressing market depending on the changes of reimbursement criteria.

The number of wound dressing products (in terms of the Therapeutic Materials Product Group Code) notified in the NHIS RTMM Formulary continues to fluctuate year by year. It decreased from *** in 2018 to *** in 2020, and then increased again to *** in 2022. However, the number of non-reimbursement products continues to decrease, from *** in 2018 to 12 in 2022, an average annual decrease of ***% over the past 4 years. Therefore, it can be said that most products of the current wound dressing market are within the scope of reimbursement coverage.

Chapter 1. Introduction
   1.1 Purpose
   1.2 Suggestions for Best Use
   1.3 Scope
   1.4 Market Segmentation
   1.5 Research Methods
      1.5.1 Desk Research
      1.5.2 Primary Research
   1.6 Analysis and Estimation Methods
      1.6.1 Data Sources
      1.6.2 Exchange Rate

Chapter 2. Executive Summary

Chapter 3. Market Overview
   3.1 Market Size at Initial Selling Prices
      3.1.1 Five-Year Forecast of Market Size
   3.2 Market Size by Distribution Channel
   3.3 Market Size at Purchase Prices
      3.3.1 Reimbursement Volume by Product Category
      3.3.2 Reimbursement Volume by Supplier
      3.3.3 Reimbursement Volume by Medical Department
      3.3.4 Reimbursement Volume by End-User Type

Chapter 4. Major Suppliers
   4.1 Coloplast
   4.2 Convatec
   4.3 Mölnlycke Healthcare
   4.4 Mundi Pharma
   4.5 Smith&Nephew
   4.6 Juthis
   4.7 Ildong Pharmaceutical
   4.8 3M
   4.9 Daewoong Pharmaceutical
   4.10 CGbio
   4.11 T&L, Genewel, WON Biogen

Chapter 5. Market Dynamics
   5.1 Impact of COVID-19
   5.2 Characteristics of Korean Market
      5.2.1 History of Modern Wound Dressing
      5.2.2 Change History of Payment Environment
      5.2.3 Number of Medical Institutions in Korea
      5.2.4 Determanation Criteria for Reimbursement
   5.3 Key Indicators
      5.3.1 Rising Medical Costs and Hospital Beds
      5.3.2 Aging Population
      5.3.3 Number of Surgical Operations
      5.3.4 Volume of Wound Care
         5.3.4.1 Simple Wound Care
         5.3.4.2 Inflammation Care
         5.3.4.3 Burn Treatments
         5.3.4.4 Dermatological Treatments
         5.3.4.5 Biological Treatments
         5.3.4.6 Postoperative Treatments
      5.3.5 Diabetic Foot Ulcer
      5.3.6 Pressure Ulcer
      5.3.7 Burns
      5.3.8 Rising Consumer Awareness
   5.4 Market Drivers
      5.4.1 Demand
      5.4.2 Supply
   5.5 Market Opportunities
      5.5.1 Aging Population and Rising Healthcare Spending
      5.5.2 Reimbursement Coverage Expansion Policy
      5.5.3 Novel Woundcare Technologies
   5.6 Market Restraints
      5.6.1 Changes in Government Reimbursement Policy
      5.6.2 Product Grouping Rules of NHIS
      5.6.3 Fluctuating Exchange Rate
   5.7 Unmet Needs

[Table 1] Market Size of Initial Selling Prices 2018-2022 (USD thousands)
[Table 2] Five-Year Forecast of Market Size 2022-2026 (USD thousands)
[Table 3] Market Size at Medical Insitutions' Purchase Prices 2018-2022
[Table 4] Reimbursement Volume by Product Category 2018-2022
[Table 5] Estimated Reimbursement Volume by Supplier 2022
[Table 6] Reimbursement Volume by Medical Department 2018-2022
[Table 7] Reimbursement Volume Forecast for Major Specialties
[Table 8] Reimbursement Volume by End-User Type 2018-2022
[Table 9] Manufacturers and Suppliers of Key Brands
[Table 10] Companies and Products (as of December 2022)
[Table 11] Coloplast
[Table 12] Convatec
[Table 13] Mölnlycke Healthcare
[Table 14] Mundipharma
[Table 15] Smith&Nephew
[Table 16] Juthis
[Table 17] Ildong Pharmaceutical
[Table 18] 3M
[Table 19] Daewoong Pharmaceutical
[Table 20] CGbio
[Table 21] T&L, Genewel, WONBIOGEN
[Table 22] Changes in National Health Insurance
[Table 23] Number of Medical Institutions in Korea as of 2021
[Table 24] Number of Beds for Major Hospitals as of 2021
[Table 25] Determination Criteria for Reimbursement (as of 1 December 2022)
[Table 26] Number of Beds for Hospitals in OECD Countries
[Table 27] Estimated Health Spending to GDP (as of 2021)
[Table 28] Estimate of Elderly Population over 65 Years Old (Unit: million)
[Table 29] Estimate of Elderly Population over 65 Years Old
[Table 30] Number of Surgical Operations 2017-2021
[Table 31] Number of the Most Frequent Surgeries 2018-2020
[Table 32] Wound Treatment Codes of the National Health Insurance
[Table 33] Reimbursement Volume by National Health Insurance Service Code 2017-2021
[Table 34] Simple Wound Treatments 2017-2021
[Table 35] Inflammation Treatments 2017-2021
[Table 36] Burn Treatments 2017-2021
[Table 37] Dermatological Treatments 2017-2021
[Table 38] Biological Treatments 2017-2021
[Table 39] Postoperative Treatments 2017-2021
[Table 40] Number of Diabetic Foot Ulcer Patients 2017-2021
[Table 41] Number of Pressure Ulcer Patients 2017-2021
[Table 42] Pressure Ulcer Treatment by Age Group 2021
[Table 43] Trend in Number of Burn Patient by End-User Type 2017-2021
[Table 44] Trend in Number of Outpatient/Inpatient Burns 2018-2021
[Table 45] Number of Burn Patient by Age Group 2018-2021
[Table 46] Changes in Burn Surgery 2017-2021
[Table 47] Summary of Market Drivers
[Table 48] Changes in Number of Wound Dressing Products 2018-2022
[Table 49] Reimbursement Criteria for Wound Dressing Products
[Table 50] Exchange Rate Adjustment Table for Medical Devices

[Fig 1] Market Size at Initial Selling Prices 2018-2022 (USD thousands)
[Fig 2] Five-Year Forecast of Market Size 2022-2026 (USD thousands)
[Fig 3] Market Size by Distribution Channel 2022-2026
[Fig 4] Market Size by Distribution Channel 2018-2021
[Fig 5] Market Size at Medical Institutions' Purchase Prices 2018-2022
[Fig 6] Reimbursement Volume by Product Category 2022 (USD thousands)
[Fig 7] Reimbursement Volume of Product Category 2018-2022
[Fig 8] Estimated Reimbursement Volume by Supplier 2022 (USD million)
[Fig 9] Reimbursement Volume by Medical Department 2022 (USD thousands)
[Fig 10] Reimbursement Volume of Medical Deparment 2018-2022
[Fig 11] Amount Reimbursed per DRG Surgery 2016-2021
[Fig 13] Reimbursement Volume by End-User Type 2022 (USD thousands)
[Fig 14] Reimbursement Volume of End-User Type 2018-2022
[Fig 15] Trend in Number of COVID-19 Patients 2020-2022
[Fig 16] Reimbursement Volume of Big 5 Hospitals 2016-2020 (USD 100,000)
[Fig 17] Tertiary Hospital Ranking with Decreased Volume (2018-2021 Q3)
[Fig 18] Number of Medical Institutions 2011-2021
[Fig 19] Healthcare Spending to GDP 2012-2021
[Fig 20] Percentage of Elderly Population (65 years+)
[Fig 21] Health Spending on Population of 65 years+ (USD 100,000/1,000 persons)
[Fig 22] Number of Diabetic Foot Ulcer Patients 2017-2021
[Fig 23] Number of Pressure Ulcer Patients 2017-2021

Coloplast
Convatec
Mölnlycke Healthcare
Mundi Pharma
Smith&Nephew
Juthis
Ildong Pharmaceutical
3M
Daewoong Pharmaceutical
CGbio
T&L
Genewel
WON Biogen