South Korea’s clinical trial approvals rebounded in 2023, but remained lower than the peak levels in 2020-21 amid then robust R&D activity related to COVID-19. Last year's tally showed a mix of single-country and multinational trials and reflected the ongoing dominance of oncology in industry pipelines.

Among recent highlights, SK Bioscience files for approval of recombinant protein COVID-19 vaccine GBP510, Hanmi Pharmaceutical’s Chinese subsidiary continues to report strong earnings, led by cold drug sales, while Yuhan’s novel peptide drug candidate for degenerative disc disease is set to move into a Phase III trial in the US.

Scrip takes a look at the landscape of the South Korean gene and cell therapy sector, which is under the spotlight with the implementation of a new cutting-edge biologics law.

A Scrip roundup of 2021 earnings for major Korean pharma firms shows top performers included Hanmi Pharma, GC Pharma and SK Group affiliates, which were boosted by new license deals, strong overseas sales and high-margin vaccines and other products.