Korean biopharmaceutical companies’ technology exports are rapidly increasing to China, one of the two largest global pharmaceutical markets along with the U.S.
According to the Korea Pharmaceutical and Bio-Pharma Manufacturers Association (KPBMA), the amount of license-out contracts signed with Chinese importers exceeded 2 trillion won ($1.6 billion) in the first 10 months of this year hitting the record-high figure.
Leading the pack are Daewoong Pharmaceutical (380 billion won), Peptron (616.1 billion won), Immuneoncia (540 billion won), and Olix (536.8 billion won), licensing out technology involving new drugs, candidates, and development platforms to their Chinese partners, officials at the industry group said.
Tech export contracts signed between Korean biopharmaceutical companies and Chinese companies totaled 2.07 trillion won so far this year, surpassing the 1.68 trillion won for the whole of last year.
If the two cases with undisclosed amounts are included and the possibility of additional contracts in the fourth quarter is considered, the association expects that the annual total of technology exports will break the record this year, they said.
Industry insiders said the growing interests in Korea’s biopharmaceutical industry among Chinese companies resulted from Korea’s display of superior technology throughout the Covid-19 pandemic.
“In terms of reliability, China has firm demands for Korean drugs, and Korea’s technology got additional premiums upon the outbreak of Covid-19,” an industry official told Korea Biomedical Review on Tuesday, asking to remain anonymous due to the sensitivity of the issue. “Many Chinese consumers still have distrust in their homegrown products, such as bogus drugs, food, and milk.”
Besides, there is a perception in China that Korean medicines have excellent quality compared to prices.
The KPBMA also pointed out that the surge in technology exports by local pharmaceutical companies to China this year resulted from matching demand from both countries.
“Large Chinese companies are aggressively investing in Korea’s biopharmaceutical technology,” KPBMA Vice President Lee Sung-kyu said. “Korean companies are also entering the huge market while controlling the risk of technological leakage through tight contracts.”