The domestic bio market is experiencing a revival. Recently, domestic bio companies have succeeded in exporting technology worth trillions of KRW, leading to a diversification of investment funds from semiconductor stocks to bio stocks. The driving force behind the 'second bio spring' following the end of the COVID-19 pandemic is 'platform technology.' Compared to new drug development, platform technology requires less investment and offers diverse applications, prompting more companies to engage in its development.

According to the pharmaceutical and bio industry on the 17th, domestic bio companies' platform technologies are receiving 'love calls' from various global pharmaceutical companies. Platform technology serves as an infrastructure technology for new drug development. It includes technologies that allow drugs to remain in the body longer or change into more convenient dosage forms.

● Bio Platform Companies Achieve 1st and 4th in KOSDAQ Market Capitalization

On the 12th of this month, ABL Bio signed a technology export contract worth up to KRW 3.8 trillion with the global pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly. The technology exported by ABL Bio is a platform technology called 'Grabody-B,' which enables the passage through the blood-brain barrier (BBB). The BBB is a dense barrier that prevents foreign substances from entering the brain. While it is an essential brain structure for the body, it poses a significant obstacle for drugs. Many Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease treatment candidates have failed because they could not pass the BBB.

Grabody-B targets the protein (IGF1R) protruding from the endothelial cells of the brain blood vessels that make up the BBB to secure a detour. It opens a passage for necessary substances to pass through the brain, allowing drugs to pass through. By changing only the type of drug combined with Grabody-B, any drug can pass through the BBB, indicating its high scalability. In fact, prior to Eli Lilly, Grabody-B was exported to the global pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) in April this year for up to KRW 4.1 trillion. The industry believes that Grabody-B can be applied to more diseases.

Alteogen, currently the top company in KOSDAQ market capitalization, is also a bio platform technology development company. Alteogen possesses the 'ALT-B4' platform technology, which converts intravenous (IV) injections that require several hours of administration into subcutaneous (SC) injections that can be administered within a minute. Globally, only Alteogen and the American company Halozyme possess SC conversion platform technology.

Based on this competitive edge, Alteogen exported ALT-B4 to the American company Merck (MSD). MSD applied this technology to the immuno-oncology drug 'Keytruda' to develop the SC formulation 'Keytruda Qurex,' which received new drug approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). In addition to MSD, Alteogen has exported the same platform technology to several global pharmaceutical companies, including Japan's Daiichi Sankyo.

● Record High Cumulative Technology Exports of Approximately KRW 19 Trillion This Year

With technology exports gaining momentum centered around platform technology development companies, the cumulative technology export volume of pharmaceutical and bio companies this year has reached approximately KRW 19 trillion. As platform technologies show strength, more companies are entering the bio platform business.

Recently, Samsung Biologics launched Samsung Epis Holdings, a bio investment holding company, through a spin-off. Samsung Epis Holdings announced on the 12th of this month that it would establish a subsidiary, Epis Nexlab, to develop new drug platform technology. Samsung Epis Holdings stated that Epis Nexlab would develop platform technology in the field of peptide, which are amino acid chains that make up proteins. The industry analyzes that platform technology has high business scalability and will create significant synergy with Samsung Bioepis, which operates a biosimilar business.

A representative from the Korea Bio Association stated, "The time has come for the technological capabilities accumulated by Korean bio companies to become visible," adding, "Starting with the development of platform technologies with high business potential, the role of Korean bio companies in overall new drug development is expected to grow even larger."

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