Led by homegrown anticancer drug Leclaza (lazertinib), Yuhan Corp. will continue its quest to become one of the top 50 global pharmaceutical companies this year. Yuhan aims to become one of the top 50 global pharmaceutical companies by 2026, its 100th founding anniversary.

Yuhan Corp. CEO Cho Wook-je disclosed the company’s ambition in a recent New Year's interview with journalists covering the Korea Pharmaceutical and Bio-Pharma Manufacturers Association (KPBMA).

The company has set this year’s corporate slogan as “Great Yuhan, Global Yuhan.” Its ambition is to become a great company that shares with society and a global company that contributes to the health and happiness of mankind.

In line with this vision, CEO Cho said Yuhan will expand its R&D investment and focus on securing an excellent pipeline this year. The company plans to expand its clinical pipeline while securing a foundation of promising new platform technologies for the future. The company has 41 new drug pipelines -- 28 innovative drugs and 13 reformulated drugs.

One of the highlights of the company's new drug pipeline this year is the homegrown anticancer drug Leclaza. Approved recently as a first-line treatment for lung cancer, Yuhan submitted Leclaza’s marketing authorization to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the European Medicines Agency (EMA) late last year and is currently under review. It is indicated in combination with Rybrevant (amivantamab) in the first-line treatment of adult patients with advanced EGFR-mutated NSCLC. Yuhan expects approval of the combination therapy in the U.S. and Europe this year. Related global clinical trials are also expected to report results this year.

In keeping with Leclaza's global expansion, Cho expects the company's overseas investments to become a global top 50 pharmaceutical company will pay off this year.

"We are making aggressive investments while strengthening R&D capabilities to become a global 50 pharmaceutical company. As part of this, we have strengthened our position in the global market through continuous investment in overseas subsidiaries," Cho said. "We operate our overseas subsidiaries with a strategy that best suits the local market by thoroughly reflecting the characteristics of each country. As a result, our regional subsidiary business has entered a stable growth period and is expected to achieve significant results in 2024.

Cho acknowledged that the business environment will be challenging this year but expressed his ambition to continue double-digit growth.

"We expect the year to remain challenging, with low growth stagnating due to the economic downturn, inflation continuing to rise, and high-interest rates persisting," he said. "Despite the challenging business environment, we have set a sales growth target of nearly 13 percent year-on-year, centered on strategic items such as the innovative new lung cancer drug Leclaza, probiotics, and Addpharma's improved drugs."

On the R&D front, Yuhan will continue to focus on expanding Leclaza's domestic sales in response to the first-line reimbursement expansion and the global launch of Leclaza. In addition, the company will continue to invest in R&D by advancing existing projects to the clinical stage and considering new pipelines to develop second and third-line products.

“We will also expand our ESG activities to lay the foundation for becoming a sustainable company," Cho said.

Alongside growth, the company is also committed to ethical management.

"As 2024 is expected to be a year of major changes in the drug distribution order due to the implementation of the expenditure report disclosure system, it is more necessary than ever to comply with laws and regulations thoroughly," Cho said. "In my New Year's speech, I called for employees to continue to pay attention and make efforts to create an environment that prevents corruption and complies with laws and regulations in all company areas."

He went on to say, "Being a top 50 global pharmaceutical company is as much about transparency and fairness as it is about financial performance, and as history has shown, achievements made through dishonest means can be undone at any time. We will continue to develop our ethical management in line with global standards. This ethical management will be the foundation of our success in the global market."