The government selected JW Pharmaceutical, Korea Otsuka Pharmaceutical, and Hanlim Pharm as “Korea Innovative Pharmaceutical Company” on Friday.
The Ministry of Health and Welfare awarded the three drugmakers with a minister’s commendation and shared their performances at the 2017 Innovative Pharmaceutical Companies’ Performance Reporting Day event.
The ministry recognizes Innovative Pharmaceutical Companies for their innovative R&D on new drugs and business expansion in the global market. The certified companies enjoy priority in applying for a state R&D project, tax incentives, and benefits in drug price negotiations.
JW Pharmaceutical is developing new drugs, including targeted immunotherapy, hair loss treatment, and atopic dermatitis medicine through R&D networks in the U.S. and Japan. Based on its mission, “respect for life,” the company’s long-time production of IV solutions, essential for treating patients, have contributed to the public’s interest and enhanced public health, the ministry said.
Korea Otsuka Pharmaceutical was recognized for winning EU’s Good Manufacturing Practice, in addition to the 12 Asian countries, and expanding its exports to 21 EU countries. Although the firm is multinational, it has a large-scale production line in Korea, which gave the company high marks.
Hanlim Pharm was commended for securing many distribution channels in the U.S. and upgrading their production methods to an advanced level through receiving the direct assessment of the U.S. FDA. That helped the company provide a stepping stone for local drugs to reach the global market and the company’s exports drastically increased every year, the ministry said.
To date, the government has certified 45 innovative drugmakers – 35 pharmaceutical firms, eight biopharma ventures, and two multinationals. The combined R&D of the 45 companies amounted to 1.4 trillion won ($1.27 billion) last year. The figure took up 12.6 percent of their combined sales last year, up 0.3 percentage point from a year earlier. The 45 firms’ R&D ratio to revenue was higher than that of the total 109 listed pharmaceutical firms which stood at 7.8 percent.
The ministry expects that 85 international clinical trials by 20 innovative drugmakers out of the 45 will help Korea launch new drugs in the global pharmaceutical market in the future.
“The achievements of the local pharmaceutical industry came from innovative drugmakers’ endless innovative business activities and efforts to expand in the overseas market,” said Kang Do-tae, an assistant minister in charge of the ministry’s Healthcare Policy Office. “To support the pharmaceutical industry, the government will announce a five-year comprehensive plan for nurturing the industry at the end of this year.”