Despite strong export, Korean bioindustry faces funding shortages, survey finds

Despite optimistic export performance, the Korean bioindustry worries about shrinking investment sentiment and lack of funding.

KoreaBIO, a bioindustry association, released the results of its “2024 Bioindustry Assessment and 2025 Outlook” survey of its members.

The survey was conducted last month among the association's member companies, and 59 companies responded. It covered major issues, such as the bioindustry's production and export performance in 2024, investment status, outlook for 2025, industry challenges, and requests for government support.

The top domestic and international issues facing the bioindustry in 2024 include “decline in bio investment sentiment” with the highest ratio at 71.2 percent, followed by “decline in the listing of biopharmaceutical companies” (32.2 percent) and “geopolitical conflicts between the U.S. and China, including biosecurity laws” (28.8 percent).

Regarding the domestic bioindustry's production and export performance in 2024, 44.1 percent of respondents said foreign shipments would increase from the previous year, 32.2 percent said they would decrease, and 23.7 percent said they would be similar to 2023.

However, when asked whether investment in the domestic bioindustry would increase year over year in 2024, 50.8 percent said it would decrease, and only 25.4 percent said it would be the same as the previous year.

The majority of respondents were positive about the outlook for the domestic bioindustry in 2025, with 58.6 percent saying “positive,” 31.0 percent saying “negative,” and 10.4 percent expressing no clear opinion. 

Reasons for positivity included “expanding overseas markets” (42.5 percent), “strengthening government support policies” (35.0 percent), and “increasing technology exports” (35.0 percent). On the negative side, 63.2 percent of the respondents said that “investment” needs to be improved, followed by “government support” (56.1 percent) and “improved regulations” (42.1 percent).

A majority of 55.9 percent cited a lack of funding, including R&D and government grants, as the biggest challenge facing the bioindustry. This was followed by “complex licensing procedures” (15.3 percent), “lack of commercialization experience such as technology transfer” (13.6 percent), and “lack of specialized manpower” (8.5 percent).

When asked about the government's role in revitalizing the bioindustry, 40.7 percent said “funding,” followed by “deregulation of the bioindustry” (23.7 percent), “fostering small—and medium-sized enterprises and startups” (18.6 percent), “training specialized human resources” (6.8 percent), and “building an ecosystem for international cooperation” (5.1 percent).

Other suggestions for the government included:

● Easing the requirements for bio companies to be designated as managed stocks after listing on the Kosdaq Technology Special Listing

● Refraining from using petroleum-based plastics and supporting the development of eco-friendly plastics

● Establishing policies for industrial utilization of medical big data held by the government or medical institutions

● Promoting close cooperation and joint research among domestic companies

● Supporting smooth communication between supply and demand companies.

“To actively address the decline in investment, which is an urgent issue in the bioindustry, we are trying to operate domestic and foreign investor matching more briskly, a used equipment trading platform among member companies, and a council of supply and demand companies,” KoreaBIO Vice President Lee Seung-kyou said. "We will try to identify and solve the business and policy needs of bio companies in various fields, such as red, green, white, and digital convergence areas, and support them.”