PanGen Biotech, a Huons Group-affiliated corporations specializing in biopharmaceuticals, is accelerating the expansion of its contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) business for biopharmaceuticals based on its proprietary cell line development core technology.
At the same time, it is pursuing new pipeline development and expanding global orders, backed by sales growth of its anemia treatment biosimilar (biosimilar).
According to the industry on the 12th, PanGen Biotech has begun developing biosimilars for three global blockbuster drugs using its proprietary cell technology.
The targets are the immuno-oncology drug Yervoy (ipilimumab) from Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS), the autoimmune disease treatment Tremfya (guselkumab) from Johnson & Johnson, and the osteoporosis treatment Evenity (romosozumab) from Amgen.
The company said, "We are currently developing production cell lines for the three products and plan to complete cell line development and establish the manufacturing process within the year."
PanGen Biotech's first-quarter sales on a consolidation basis were 3.73 billion won, up 8.4% from the same period a year earlier. During the same period, exports of the erythropoietin (EPO) biosimilar increased, driving a 21% rise in sales of the product and improving overall results.
EPO is a biopharmaceutical used to treat anemia in patients with chronic kidney failure and has become PanGen Biotech's key revenue source. The compound annual growth rate of EPO sales over the past three years was 28.6%. As of the end of Mar., of the total backlog of 5.2 billion won, 4.8 billion won was composed of EPO products, maintaining a stable sales base.
The company currently sells EPO biosimilars in eight countries, including Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Türkiye, Thailand, Brunei and Myanmar. It plans to expand sales to regions including Taiwan, Paraguay and Iraq, as well as the Middle East and Africa, to broaden its global market.
Another growth pillar for the company is its biopharmaceutical CDMO business.
PanGen Biotech provides a one-stop service spanning cell line development, process development, and production of nonclinical and clinical samples, based on its proprietary cell line platform technology, PanGen CHO-TECH™.
The technology, based on CHO (Chinese hamster ovary) cells, includes development of protein expression and production cell lines required for biopharmaceutical manufacturing, as well as process optimization technologies. The company also owns the necessary expression vector technology and holds patents in key countries at home and abroad.
If a client's biopharmaceutical developed using this platform technology succeeds in commercialization, PanGen Biotech receives running royalties linked to sales. As technology transfer contracts expand, royalty revenue can gradually increase.
The company said it plans to expand its CDMO business to carry out biosimilar development requested by biotech corporations and pharmaceutical companies, based on its proprietary technologies.
The company has carried out more than 100 projects for cell line development, process development, and production of nonclinical and clinical samples for pharmaceutical companies and biotech ventures. Based on this, it aims to expand customized CDMO services.
Yoon Jae-seung, CEO of PanGen Biotech, said, "PanGen Biotech is continuing stable growth through the bio CDMO business and EPO sales," adding, "We will accelerate our push into the global bio market by strengthening cooperation with Huons Group."