Korean pharma industry expands R&D investments

GC Cross and JW Pharmaceutical increase investment

20 traditional pharmaceutical companies increase R&D investments in Q1

R&D expenditures increase in 14 of the 20 companies...Daewoong Pharmaceutical’s R&D to sale is 18%

Pharmaceutical companies have vigorously engaged in research and development (R&D) activities to discover future foods.

 

7 out of 10 major traditional pharmaceutical companies increased their R&D investment compared to last year.

 

R&D expenditures have increased significantly due to the development of new drugs and the introduction of new R&D pipelines.

 

In particular, R&D investments by GC Biopharma and JW Pharmaceuticals soared.

 

According to the Financial Supervisory Service on the 25th, the R&D investment made by 20 major biopharmaceutical companies in Q1 totaled up to KRW 390.6 billion, which was 13.4% increase from the previous year.

 

The top 20 sales of traditional pharmaceutical companies that submitted quarterly reports were counted.

 

14 out of 20 major pharmaceutical companies saw an increase in their R&D investment expense in Q1 this year compared to last year.

 

Among traditional pharmaceutical companies in Korea, GC Biopharma was found to have spent the most on R&D.

 

GC Biopharma’s R&D expenses in Q1 amounted to KRW 56.9 billion, which is a 57.5% YoY increase.

 

GC Biopharma’s R&D expenditure increased because it recently introduced a new pipeline from a foreign company.

 

In February, GC Biopharma signed an Asset Purchase Agreement with Catalyst Biosciences, a US new drug developer, for a pipeline related to rare blood clotting disorder.

 

GC Biopharma acquired a total of 3 programs, including ‘Marzeptacog alfa (MarzAA)’ that the company is developing in the Global Phase III trial.

 

In March, GC Biopharma exercised its license option to the Canadian company, Acuitas Therapeutics, for its lipid nanoparticle (LNP) delivery system to develop a messenger RNA (mRNA)-based therapeutics.

 

LNP is a delivery system that safely transports nanoparticles to cells in the body to enable mRNA to function.

 

The ratio of R&D investment to sales at GC Biopharma increased twofold from 8.7% to 16.3% in one year.

 

Daewoong Pharmaceutical's sales increased 7.6% YoY to reach KRW 51 billion in Q1 this year.

 

Daewoong Pharmaceutical is currently developing new drugs for ulcerative colitis, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, obesity, autoimmune diseases, and infectious diseases.

 

It is also conducting joint research with HanAll Biopharma, Daewoong Therapeutics, Oncocross, and D&D Pharmatech.

 

Daewoong Pharmaceutical received approval for its gastroesophageal reflux disease treatment Fexclu in 2021 and succeeded in commercializing Envlo, a new diabetes SGLT-2 inhibitor class drug last year.

 

Hanmi Pharmaceutical’s R&D investment also increased 22.9% YoY to reach KRW 45.7 billion in Q1 this year.

 

Hanmi Pharmaceutical is developing new drugs for nonalcoholic steatohepatitis and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis in the field of new biological agents.

 

The company is also developing new combination drugs for diabetes and antithrombosis.

 

Among major pharmaceutical companies, JW Pharmaceutical’s R&D expenditure increased the greatest.

 

JW Pharmaceutical’s Q1 R&D expenditure was KRW 20.3 billion, increasing 94.0% YoY from the KRW 10.5 billion in Q1 previous year.

 

JW Pharmaceutical started a Phase III clinical trial of 'URC-102', a gout treatment, at the end of last year.

 

URC-102 is a uric acid excretion promoter that inhibits Urate transporter 1 (URAT)-1, which allows uric acid to be absorbed back into the body.

 

It is effective for gout disease caused by hyperuricemia in which the concentration of uric acid in the blood is abnormally high.

 

The Phase III trial will compare URC-102 with a total of 588 gout patients with the existing treatment febuxostat.

 

Daewon Pharmaceutical and Handok’s Q1 R&D investment increased 50% from the previous year.

 

R&D expenditures increased by over 20% at Hugel, HK Inno.N, and Dong Wha Pharm.

 

On the other hand, the R&D investment amount of companies including Dong-A ST, Il-Yang Pharmacuetical, Jeil Pharmaceutical, Boryung Pharmaceutical, United Pharm, and Yuhan Corp decreased YoY.

 

In terms of the R&D-to-sales ratio, Daewoong Pharmaceutical’s rate was highest at 17.5%.

 

GC Biopharma, Dong-A ST, Daewon Pharmaceutical, Hanmi Pharmaceutical, JW Pharmaceutical, United Pharm, Samjin Pharm, Chong Kun Dang, and Ilyang Pharm invested more than 10% of their sales in R&D.