This year, the scale of technology exports by Korean pharmaceutical and bio corporations surpassed 20 trillion won.
According to the Korea Pharmaceutical and Bio-Pharma Manufacturers Association (KPBMA) on the 28th, technology exports by the pharmaceutical and bio industry from January to December totaled about $14.53 billion (about 20.99 trillion won), excluding undisclosed contracts.
That is an increase of about 162% from last year's technology exports of about $5.54 billion (about 8 trillion won).
Bio technology exports are largely divided into platform technologies and pipeline (new drug candidates) technologies, and platform technology exports stood out in particular this year.
The largest deal was signed in Apr. between ABL Bio and GSK plc, under which it exported the blood-brain barrier (BBB) shuttle platform "Grabody-B" for $3.02 billion (about 4.1 trillion won).
The main technology developed by ABL Bio enables drugs to pass through the blood-brain barrier more effectively. Applying this technology allows the use of less drug than before, reducing the risk of side effects. The blood-brain barrier surrounding the brain protects it by blocking external substances from entering, and in Alzheimer's disease treatment it acts as a barrier that prevents new drug substances from reaching the brain.
ABL Bio also exported the Grabody-B platform to U.S. pharmaceutical corporation Eli Lilly and Company last month. The deal is worth $2.562 billion (about 3.7487 trillion won), the second-largest amount this year.
Alteogen also exported the original technology for the human hyaluronidase "ALT-B4" to MedImmune in Mar. in a deal worth $1.35 billion (about 1.9553 trillion won). MedImmune is the bio research and development subsidiary of global pharmaceutical corporation AstraZeneca.
ALT-B4 is a core technology that converts an intravenous (IV) formulation into a subcutaneous (SC) formulation. While it takes about 30 minutes to 1 hour to administer an immune-oncology drug through a vein (intravenously), a subcutaneous formulation reduces the administration time drastically to about 1 to 2 minutes.
Rznomics in May signed a global license agreement with Eli Lilly and Company worth $1.4 billion (about 1.9 trillion won) to develop ribonucleic acid (RNA) editing and correction therapeutics. Rznomics possesses an RNA replacement enzyme platform technology that selectively cuts out abnormal RNA segments that cause disease and replaces (substitutes) them with normal sequences.
Technology transfer of new drug candidates also followed one after another. ABION in Jun. signed a co-development and license agreement for the antibody drug "ABN501" worth about $1.3 billion (about 1.8 trillion won). The counterparty was not disclosed.
Oscotec and Adelaide this month exported the technology for "ADEL-Y01," an Alzheimer's disease drug candidate, to French pharmaceutical corporation Sanofi in a deal worth $1.04 billion (about 1.5288 trillion won).
ADEL-Y01, co-developed by Adelaide and Oscotec, is a monoclonal antibody that, among tau proteins identified as a main cause of Alzheimer's disease, does not act on normal tau but selectively targets only "acetylated tau (acK280)," which accumulates in the brain and causes toxicity. A global phase 1 clinical trial is underway.
Aimed Bio in Oct. exported next-generation antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) to German pharmaceutical corporation C. H. Boehringer Sohn AG & Co. KG. The deal is worth $991 million (about 1.4 trillion won).
ADCs are a treatment technology that delivers a drug attached to an antibody precisely to cancer cells only. They consist of an antibody that homes in on cancer cells, a payload that kills cancer cells, and a linker that connects them. They are called "guided missiles that strike cancer cells" because they can minimize harm to normal cells while maximizing treatment efficacy.
In addition, OliX Pharmaceuticals, Genome & Company, AbClon, NIBEC, Aribio, DXVX, Avixgen, Idience of the Ildong Pharmaceutical Group, Voronoi, and Sovargen also announced technology export deals this year.