Humanity has drawn on the power of nature for thousands of years to cure disease. A significant number of medicines, including the antibiotic penicillin, the anticancer drug paclitaxel, statins that lower cholesterol, and fingolimod for multiple sclerosis, originate from "natural products (NP)" derived from plants and microorganisms.
Natural products have far more complex structures than artificially synthesized chemicals. They contain many carbon and oxygen atoms and relatively fewer nitrogen or chlorine atoms. At the same time, they dissolve well in water yet maintain rigid frameworks, enabling precise, tailored drug development even in areas such as protein–protein interactions that are difficult to target with conventional synthetic drugs. In fact, the trend toward larger and more complex molecular structures among new drugs approved over the past 20 years indicates that many ideas have come from natural products.
According to the U.K. market research firm Technavio, the global market for natural product-based medicines reached $4.345 billion (about 61.94 trillion won) in 2023. It is projected to grow at an average annual rate of 8.2% to $6.438 billion (91.78 trillion won) by 2028.
◇The United States, Europe and China lead new drug development with natural products
Natural product research was long a difficult field. Hundreds to thousands of components are mixed within a single extract, making it time-consuming and costly to identify the active ingredient. Their chemical architectures are so intricate that synthesizing analogs or elucidating mechanisms of action also faced limits.
Above all, substances obtained from nature are hard to protect with patents, and the Nagoya Protocol, an international rule requiring benefit-sharing with countries of origin for biological resources, also made commercialization difficult.
Now the situation is changing. Genome mining technology is identifying natural product biosynthetic genes within the DNA of microorganisms and marine life. Synthetic biology has opened the way to produce them more efficiently than in nature by inserting and optimizing these biosynthetic genes in microorganisms.
Using AI and automated cultivation technologies, temperature, nutrients and acidity (pH) in fermentation can be adjusted in real time to boost production efficiency, and metabolomics can analyze extract components in bulk to quickly pinpoint active substances.
The United States and Europe, led by their governments, have steadily fostered new drugs based on natural products. Results include Sativex, a multiple sclerosis therapy derived from cannabis; Epidiolex for epilepsy; and Filsuvez, extracted from birch bark, for epidermolysis bullosa. China, leveraging its medicinal plant resources, has grown into the largest single market in the world beyond Asia.
Korea's natural product new drug industry entered a full growth phase in 2000 with the enactment of the Natural Product New Drug Research and Development Promotion Act. Starting with the first new drug, Joinstim, in 2001, followed by Stillen, Cinnecure syrup and Motilitone, several were developed in succession. But after a 2015 Board of Audit and Inspection finding, government support was suspended, leading to a period of stagnation. Deleting the term "natural product new drug" from the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act also weakened the institutional foundation.
Recently, with the new government pledging to expand research and development investment and overhaul the drug pricing compensation system, the natural products industry is drawing attention again. As the government, industry and academia all seek a springboard for a new leap, a venue has been prepared to explore the direction of Korea's natural products industry.
◇Natural product researchers from around the world to gather, with public lectures, too
From Oct. 22 to 24, the "The 1st Gangneung NP·BIO International Conference" will be held at St. John's Hotel in Gangneung. Co-hosted by the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST), the city of Gangneung and ChosunBiz, the event is designed as a forum to share the latest research trends and technology development directions in natural products and biotechnology, and to facilitate communication between researchers and citizens.
On the opening day, the keynote podium will feature Professor Alvaro Viljoen of the Herbal Drugs Research Unit under the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC). Viljoen, a world-renowned scholar, has published more than 320 international papers in phytochemical prospecting and pharmacological activity research and has supervised about 100 graduate students. Having contributed to the industrialization of indigenous African medicinal plants, he plans in this lecture, titled "Thirty years of South African medicinal plant science—discoveries, development and reflections," to survey directions for Korea's challenges within the global flow of natural product research.
On Oct. 23–24, an in-depth conference and the Aslla Symposium with overseas scholars and domestic researchers will follow, discussing the latest research achievements and industrial applications of natural products and biotechnology. On the 23rd, a public conference for general citizens will also be held. "Yak," a science communicator from the YouTube channel Unrealscience, will give a public lecture. Yak is Lee Sang-gon, a former pharmaceutical company employee and a Ph.D. in pharmacy.
During the event, there will also be exhibitions and experience booths related to natural products and biotechnology. Research institutes, universities and corporations will showcase their technologies and research outcomes, and a variety of hands-on programs for citizens will be offered, including a 3D food printer demonstration, microbial microscope observations and a coffee experience.
■The 1st Gangneung NP·BIO International Conference
△Date and time: Wednesday, Oct. 22–Friday, Oct. 24, 2025
△Venue: 4th floor, St. John's Hotel, Gangneung
△Hosted by: City of Gangneung; Gangneung Tourism Development Corporation; Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST), Gangneung Institute of Natural Products; Korea Tourism Organization (KTO); ChosunBiz
△Registration and inquiries: 070-5142-0540, Diana@withnnp.com
△Inquiries about exhibition booths: 02-724-6064, pkb@chosunbiz.com