CJ Bioscience, which once drew attention as the group's future growth engine and made a flashy start, is faltering. Seven years after it began developing an innovative anticancer drug using the body's microorganisms (microbiome), it abruptly halted clinical trials, and a wave of large-scale restructuring is sweeping in as one-fifth of all employees leave the company. It appears to be sharply shifting strategy to "money-making businesses," such as health functional foods that generate immediate cash, after realizing the limits of new drug development, which requires massive expense.
According to the biotech industry on the 21st, CJ Bioscience recently voluntarily withdrew phase 1 clinical trials at home and abroad for CJRB-101, a microbiome immuno-oncology candidate being developed as a solid tumor treatment. It was a project ambitiously carried out simultaneously in Korea and the United States, using a combination regimen with Keytruda, the global blockbuster anticancer drug from Merck (MSD).
The industry is effectively taking the trial halt as a scrapping of the pipeline. The company said, "After reviewing the interim results of phase 1, we made a cold judgment that even if we enter phase 2, which requires massive expense, the commercial value would be low." A core new drug driver that CJ nurtured since the CheonLab days in 2019 has ground to a halt after seven years.
The halt in drug development led directly to staff cuts and restructuring. CJ Bioscience's total head count fell to 102 at the end of last year from 129 at the end of 2024, a sharp drop of 27 people (21%) in just one year. One out of five employees packed up. Notably, 17 research and development (R&D) staffers—core to the company—left, and a string of resignations by researchers has continued this year.
This exodus is seen as tied to worsening results. CJ Bioscience's consolidation-based revenue for the first quarter this year was just 800 million won, down 14% from a year earlier. The operating loss was 5.3 billion won, showing the company is still stuck in tens of billions of won in red ink. R&D expense was 3.3 billion won, down 26% from a year earlier.
The microbiome was once an area that CJ Group expected to be a bio growth engine. Tens of trillions of microorganisms exist in the human body, most of which reside in the digestive tract. The company's goal was to develop anticancer drugs and more based on microorganisms closely tied to human health.
Microbiome anticancer drugs are based on the human immune system. That gives them the advantage of expanding indications to various cancers beyond specific ones. According to the Korea Institute of Science and Technology Information (KISTI), the global microbiome anticancer drug market is projected to grow from $12.6 million (19 billion won) in 2024 to $40.7 million (61 billion won) in 2029.
However, it is not easy to succeed in developing microbiome anticancer drugs. Beyond the long development timelines, the gut microbiome environment can vary by person depending on diet and lifestyle. CJ Bioscience is also seen to have withdrawn trials after being unable to bear massive research costs roughly four times its revenue during this process.
The only microbiome research left at the company is CJRB-201, a candidate for treating intestinal disease. The intestinal disease treatment is in the preclinical stage and has not yet entered clinical trials.
CJ Bioscience plans to focus on the health and wellness business this year. A company official said, "We will gain a foothold in the personalized wellness market," adding, "After securing a stable cash cow with health and wellness, we will build a structure to reinvest in new drug R&D."