[K Startup Industry Map] bio-healthcare Industry

Just a few years ago, the bio-healthcare industry was considered a new growth engine to feed Korea.

If only the modifier "Bio" was added, the corporate value jumped several times, and investors came with money.

However, the market froze hard through the COVID-19 pandemic.

Except for some fields such as diagnostic kits, the "money line" in the bio industry has dried up.

This is because IPO, venture capital (VC) investment, and CB issuance, which are key funding channels, have been delayed or canceled one after another.

Boronoi, which was expected to be the "Unicorn Special List No. 1" in March, withdrew its listing due to low demand forecasts, and Ari-bio, a new dementia drug R&D company, failed in the technology evaluation for Special Listing of Technology Growth. Mezzion's stock price fell down sharply due to not approving of Fontan surgery (heart deformity surgery) treatment by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

This phenomenon doesn’t happen only in Korea.

Since the pandemic, volatility in the global bio-healthcare sector has continued to expand. However, it is analyzed that this increase in volatility does not stem from the damage to fundamentals and growth potential of the bio and healthcare industries.

Analysts say that investment sentiment has temporarily worsened due to delays in clinical trials due to COVID-19, interest rate hikes, and falling pipeline values due to geopolitical risks due to bio companies, whose future value accounts for most of their corporate value.

Actually, the global new drug development market is expected to grow by 7.5% annually by 2026 and grow to USD 304.3 billion (about KRW 386 trillion).

According to Mirae Asset Securities, the number of clinical trials, a barometer of the new drug development market, recorded 24,914 cases (excluding COVID-19 clinical trials) as of 2021.

The digital healthcare market, which has emerged as a future medical system, is also rapidly expanding.

According to the Korea International Trade Association, the global digital healthcare market is expected to grow by nearly 30% annually from $106.3 billion (about 135 trillion won) in 2019 to $639.4 billion (about 810 trillion won) in 2026.

Fortunately, as the Yoon Seok-yeol government announced plans to actively foster the bio and healthcare industries and build infrastructure to support biotechnology fields such as new drug development, the bio industry is gaining momentum.

Bio-healthcare startups that stand out as they seek to enter overseas markets such as the U.S. and Europe are also emerging one after another. It introduces bio and healthcare startups that should be noted.

▶ New drug development

▷ Rznomics' performance is becoming visible

New drug development is the 'flower of the bio industry'. It's not easy, but it's because once you succeed, you get a huge profit. In particular, as global big pharmaceutical companies are actively engaged in open innovation such as JV(Joint Venture), M&A (Merger and Acquisition), licensing, and joint development for new pipeline transfusions, more opportunities are opening up for new drug development start-ups.

Choong-hyun, Kim, an analyst at Mirae Asset Securities, said, "Among the top 30 drugs in the world, 22 have currently expired patents or expired patents. Investment in new drug development is inevitable for new pipeline transfusions, he said. "It is an opportunity for domestic bio companies with competitiveness in new drug development to quantum jump."

Cell and gene therapy is the most notable field in the recent development of new drugs.

Rznomics is a new drug development company based on RNA (ribonucleic acid) established by Seong-wook, Lee, a professor of bio-convergence at Dankook University in 2017. It is a mechanism by which RNA replacememt enzymes are used to remove target RNA that causes disease and generate therapeutic RNA in its place. Therapies are being developed for liver cancer, glioblastoma, Alzheimer's, and hereditary retinal pigmentation. In the fourth quarter of 2021, it plans to apply for domestic and U.S. IND (clinical test plan) and enter clinical trials from 2023.

(Extract from the original article)