What was the secret behind SK Biopharm’s ability to conduct clinical trials without the help of large global pharmaceutical companies and launch an innovative new drug in the U.S. market? At the foundation of the company’s success lies the “accumulation” of experience. First, even after experiencing failures in core projects, the owner and management neither reprimanded those responsible nor reduced the size of investments in R&D for new drug development or downsized the organization; instead, they expanded them. The company transferred the lessons learned from strategic alliances with industry leaders into independent development projects. Second, without dispersing its limited available resources, the company concentrated on developing specific product lines with unmet demand and on commercialization in the U.S. market, thereby securing overwhelming competitive advantages in detailed areas. Third, to maximize the utilization of big data, the company built an extensive compound library and an artificial intelligence (AI) platform, laying the groundwork for developing other treatments for central nervous system disorders.
Could one discuss this year’s domestic stock market without mentioning SK Biopharm? After approximately 31 trillion KRW poured into general public subscriptions for its initial public offering, the stock price hit the upper limit for three consecutive days right after its listing, keeping the company at the center of attention. The stories of employees who purchased treasury shares and hit the jackpot equivalent to winning the lottery, as well as resignations to realize profits, continuously made headlines. However, with excessive attention focused on its glamorous stock market debut, interest waned in the company’s persistent new drug development journey that had continued since 1993. Expectations that the first global blockbuster product in the history of the Korean pharmaceutical industry might emerge were overshadowed by concerns about a stock bubble.
Such excessive focus on short-term stock fluctuations can be more harmful than beneficial to Korea’s industrial ecosystem. This is because SK Biopharm represents a prime example of the importance of long-term investment. Among Korean pharmaceutical companies, SK Biopharm is the only firm that has independently developed and introduced a 100% indigenous new drug into the global market. Over the past two decades, the company has carried out the entire A to Z of new drug development without giving up, including candidate search and discovery, preclinical testing, Phase 1 to Phase 3 clinical trials, New Drug Application (NDA) filings in the U.S., approval from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), sales, and marketing. This growth process of SK Biopharm means that it can serve as a milestone for companies in any industry that require long-term research and development. In a domestic corporate environment dominated by short-term performance orientation, it is not easy to expect the “power of accumulation.” Compared with the information and communications technology (ICT) sector, which emphasizes speed and agile management, the lagging development of the pharmaceutical and bio sector partly stems from this lack of “endurance DNA.” In that sense, the experience of enduring a long wait without blindly depending on foreign pharmaceutical companies is an asset of SK Biopharm that is not easily replicated.
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This content was translated into English by AI (using DeepL) from an article that was originally written in Korean in the DBR (Donga Business Review). Therefore, please understand that there may be some awkward expressions.
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