South Korea

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.

The five-year roadmap aims to expand support for AI research and development in essential health care and new drug development, as well as advance medical data usage systems and enable its safe use.

Under the new drug approval innovation measures, Korea will cut the review and approval period of new drugs to 295 days from 420 days and increase the number of expert reviewers to enhance review capabilities.

South Korea has yet to come up with detailed plans for a major national biopharma cluster, but is considering a virtual approach to connect existing industry hubs nationwide. At a recent policy forum, experts discussed related issues including governance and insufficient investment, as well as the need to attract foreign firms and capital to compete with rival clusters in Asia.

The European Commission followed the CHMP’s opinion and fully approved Celltrion’s Stelara biosimilar Steqeyma, making this the fourth approved Stelara rival in the bloc.

South Korea is set to provide an additional $18m in support to CEPI amid heighted global worries over mpox. The coalition's CEO and Korea's foreign minister met to discuss strengthened collaboration to prevent and respond to any future pandemics.

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.