As South Korea increases its stakes on the “bioeconomy” as its next growth engine and as its “second semiconductor industry,” leading domestic biologic and biosimilar drug producers such as Samsung Biologics Co. Ltd. and Celltrion Inc. are setting record production targets to become forerunners in the global playing field.

As South Korea increases its stakes on the “bioeconomy” as its next growth engine and as its “second semiconductor industry,” leading domestic biologic and biosimilar drug producers such as Samsung Biologics Co. Ltd. and Celltrion Inc. are setting record production targets to become forerunners in the global playing field.

In July 2023, South Korea’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy ramped up efforts to kickstart the so-called “Bio Economy 2.0,” the newfound initiative that banks on the biopharmaceutical industry to potentially revitalize the country’s slowing economic and social growth. Highlighting four major areas – biopharmaceuticals, biomaterials, bioenergy and digital technologies – as the four “wheels” to carry the biopharma industry, the new plan underscored the government’s unwavering support for the sector while highlighting its vision to become the “number one bioeconomy” worldwide.

In July 2023, South Korea’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy ramped up efforts to kickstart the so-called “Bio Economy 2.0,” the newfound initiative that banks on the biopharmaceutical industry to potentially revitalize the country’s slowing economic and social growth. Highlighting four major areas – biopharmaceuticals, biomaterials, bioenergy and digital technologies – as the four “wheels” to carry the biopharma industry, the new plan underscored the government’s unwavering support for the sector while highlighting its vision to become the “number one bioeconomy” worldwide.

South Korean biopharmaceutical firms are facing a harsher climate and an uphill battle both domestically and abroad, amid the larger economic downturn that has slowed everything from new drug approval to dealmaking. At the Global Pharma Key Opinion Leaders (GPKOL) 2023 Symposium held at the El Tower on Sept. 7 in Seocho-gu, Seoul, officials from the industry, government and academia gathered to discuss strategies on bouncing back from the lasting effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Amarin Corp. plc has chosen Taiwan-based Lotus Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. to make headway in Southeast Asia and South Korea for omega-3 fatty acid-based Vazkepa, its icosapent ethyl drug that’s facing increasing generic and pricing pressure in the U.S. and Europe.

South Korean biopharma Connext Co. Ltd. is set on outdoing standard-of-care therapies for Dupuytren’s contracture. The Daegu-headquartered Connext recently secured U.S. FDA IND approval for a phase I/II trial on its recombinant collagenase clostridium histolyticum, called CNT-201, inching closer to its goal of providing an affordable but high-quality therapeutic option for patients with the rare, progressive connective tissue disorder.

Amarin Corp. plc has chosen Taiwan-based Lotus Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. to make headway in Southeast Asia and South Korea for omega-3 fatty acid-based Vazkepa, its icosapent ethyl drug that’s facing increasing generic and pricing pressure in the U.S. and Europe.

Taking strides from its start as a Seoul National University laboratory, South Korea’s Cellid Co. Ltd. said July 24 that the MFDS approved an IND for the global phase III trial for its omicron variant-targeting COVID-19 vaccine called AdCLD-CoV19-1 OMI. Approval from the MFDS comes two months after Cellid filed the IND on May 23 for its adenovirus vector platform vaccine “capable of responding quickly to virus mutations,” the company said.