Hanmi 1st for R&D investment among Korean pharmas

Hanmi Pharmaceuticals invested the most in research and development among Korean drugmakers last year, according to data from the Korea Health Industry Development Institute (KHIDI).

The data presented in a 2017 KHIDI report showed Hanmi invested around 154.1 billion won ($145.6 million) last year, down from 191.9 billion won spent in 2016.

Following Hanmi were GC Pharma (formerly known as Green Cross) with $134.6 million, Daewoong Pharmaceuticals with $105.7 million, Dong-A Pharmaceutical with $75.5 million, Chong Kun Dang with $72.8 million, and Celltrion with $67.3 million.

Hanmi is one of many pharmaceutical firms ramping up R & D investments in Korea, which has been recognized as having the fastest growing R&D investments per GDP.

According to OECD statistics, Korea spent 4.24 percent of GDP on R & D, totaling around $74.2 billion, last year. Although the total amount of investment pales in comparison to that of the U.S. ($502.8 billion), Japan ($170 billion), and Germany ($112.8 billion) , Korea ranked first regarding the growth rate of R & D investment-to-GDP spending with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.18 percent.

Private businesses accounted for the bulk of the investments, pouring $55.3 billion into R&D. The government made the second most significant investment with $17.5 billion, followed by foreign agencies with $558 million, academic institutions with $478 million, and nonprofits with $293 million.

For top R&D spending among multinational pharmaceuticals, Roche came in first with $12.7 billion invested in 2017, around a million dollar increase from the year before. Following Roche were Johnson and Johnson ($11.8 billion), Novartis ($11.7 billion), Pfizer ($10.1 billion), and Merck & Co ($8.9 billion).