South Korea
South Korea's LigaChem is kickstarting a growth and globalization drive through a potential future acquisition of UK ADC player IKSUDA.
A new report from a domestic institute on South Korea’s biopharma M&A trends shows a pickup in activity, but that this remains relatively weak and small-scale. It calls for broader domestic government support to build expertise, drive innovation and globalization.
Cross-Asian initiative has already brought several South Korean gene and cell therapy startups and Japanese VCs closer, with further hopes for product development and launches in Japan, regulatory harmonization and gliobalization.
The latest activity in the South Korean biotech sector includes IPOs by Orum and Dongkook Life, as well as progress with ADCs at multiple firms.
Several major South Korean pharma firms benefited from solid sales of new drugs, and in some cases M&A deals, outside the country, although overall growth was generally weak. Meanwhile, a long-running leadership dispute at Hanmi has been resolved.
The CEO of Korean biotech Bridge Biotherapeutics shares progress and strategy for its lead candidate for IPF, along with thoughts on what Trump and the ongoing Korean political crisis might mean for the industry.
At a new year’s briefing, KPBMA's president talked about what may be ahead for Korean biopharma firms in a challenging and uncertain environment amid the start of the second Trump Administration and ongoing political turmoil in Korea.
Rimqarto is poised to become the first homegrown South Korean CAR-T therapy to gain domestic approval and looks set to provide new local competition to Kymriah.
Scrip picks five key themes that dominated biopharma developments in 2024 and look set to continue to influence the industry throughout this year.
Celltrion Group chairman outlines new plans for the Korean biosimilars giant to move into the CDMO sector and updates on new drug development activities.
AstraZeneca execs talk about the challenges South Korea faces in becoming a more attractive market for investment by global pharma firms and its significance as a site for clinical trials.
Yuhan eyes successors to lazertinib after US approval, leadership dispute at Hanmi drags on and SK Bioscience completes CDMO acquisition.
Oscotec co-CEO Taeyoung Yoon highlights anti-resistance and anti-tau therapies as the Korean bioventure’s next possible blockbuster candidates after the landmark US approval of lazertinib for lung cancer.
Following strong demand for offerings by D&D Pharmatech and ENCell, sentiment around biopharma IPOs in Korea appears to be improving, with several other ventures planning to float.
While oncology and discovery-stage assets accounted for the majority of R&D projects supported by a Korean state fund this year, new modalities such as ADCs and TPDs are emerging.
Recent major developments in the Korean biotech sector include Orum Therapeutics’ IPO plan and HLB’s US resubmission for the approval of rivoceranib in combination with camrelizumab for first-line liver cancer.
In a video interview with Scrip, Syed Husain, CEO of the US-based cell therapy CDMO BioCentriq, talks about the company’s role in parent GC’s growth strategy and business priorities, the cell and gene therapy manufacturing market and his views on the US BIOSECURE Act.
While Korean biopharma companies’ out-licensing deals have remained lackluster in the past couple of years, activity around emerging modalities, led by ADCs, have been increasing in line with global trends.
As investor sentiment around Korean biopharma IPOs and financings remained tepid in the second quarter, companies turned to other ways of raising money, including rights offerings. But there are signs of recovery and upcoming catalysts, while on the M&A front Boryung divested a vaccine subsidiary to a private equity consortium.
As it reported mixed second-quarter earnings, South Korea's pharma industry is increasingly turning to obesity pipeline assets. Meanwhile, leadership disputes among family members within Hanmi are resurfacing.