Korean pharmaceutical and biotech companies are increasingly partnering with Chinese contract development and manufacturing organizations (CDMOs) for biopharmaceuticals. Chinese CDMOs are expanding their influence in the biosimilar market, leveraging price competitiveness, large-scale production capacity, and antibody drug development experience as their strengths.
Daewoong Pharmaceutical (069620) announced Tuesday that it has signed a CDMO and commercialization partnership agreement with Chime Biologics, a global biopharmaceutical CDMO based in Wuhan, China, to develop a biosimilar of the immunological disease treatment 'Dupixent.' This marks the first contract Daewoong has signed since formally announcing its entry into the biosimilar business in July last year.
Daewoong plans to leverage Chime Biologics' biopharmaceutical development and manufacturing capabilities to enhance development stability and production efficiency. The two companies have also signed a commercialization-stage partnership agreement, extending the scope of cooperation to global commercialization following product launch. Based on this, Daewoong intends to build a biosimilar business framework spanning development, production, and commercialization.
Dupixent is an immunological disease treatment indicated for atopic dermatitis and asthma. It is a representative blockbuster drug that recorded global sales of approximately $17.8 billion (about 27 trillion won) last year. The drug continues to grow by steadily expanding its indications and prescription range. With its patent set to expire in 2029, it is regarded as a key target for the next-generation biosimilar market.
"This contract serves as an important opportunity for Daewoong Pharmaceutical to fully expand its global biosimilar business," Daewoong CEO Park Sung-soo said. "We will strengthen our capabilities spanning the development, production, and commercialization of biosimilars for blockbuster biopharmaceuticals to continuously secure competitive products in the global market."
Partnerships with Chinese CDMOs, which boast development speed and production efficiency, are spreading throughout Korea's biotech industry. Earlier this year, Y-Biologics joined hands with WuXi Biologics to develop a next-generation triple-target immuno-oncology drug. Y-Biologics signed a CDMO agreement with WuXi Biologics to develop a new drug pipeline based on its proprietary triple-target immuno-oncology platform 'Multi-AbKine.' WuXi Biologics is regarded as a CDMO with the capability to handle everything from chemistry, manufacturing, and controls (CMC) to mass production in the field of structurally complex multi-antibody drugs such as bispecific and trispecific antibodies.
MedPacto signed a strategic partnership agreement with Chime Biologics in 2024 and is currently collaborating on biopharmaceutical CMC development and clinical-stage production.
