South Korea is one of the largest pharmaceutical economies in Asia, poised to become the seventh largest globally by 2020. The market is projected to exceed US $24.3 billion in the next four years. In the past year, Korea has continued to strengthen its position, with a 32.6 per cent increase in pharma exports and Korean pharma companies showing greater R&D expenditure by almost 20 per cent. In Bloomberg’s 2015 Innovation Index, South Korea was ranked number one in the world, with some of the highest scores in categories like R&D intensity, manufacturing value-added, and patent activity.

The Korean government has implemented the “Pharma 2020 plan,” with the goal to establish a KRW 500 billion fund and advance the industry as an international powerhouse. The government is proactive in supporting overseas clinical trials, open innovation with a US$150 million ‘Global Healthcare Fund’ investment, and small businesses with the ‘Korean Small Business Innovation Research Programme.’ Additionally, they support modernization of the pharma sector through the creation of a transparent drug approval system as well as regulatory assistance. While Korea is already recognized as a leader in technology and manufacturing, the Korean government sees the pharmaceuticals sector as a key driver of future success.

Korea is reliable in the field of API manufacturing and supplying, having developed quality processes in their extensive partnerships with multinational companies. They currently produce high-quality ingredients in the domestic market, adhering to cGMP regulations. As the market experiences growth, Korea may be interested in sourcing high quality APIs abroad, which is a potential market for India to enter.

At the same time large investments have been made in South Korea’s biosimilar market, predicted to reach US $1.2 billion by 2019 with a CAGR of 7.8 per cent. They are predicted to capture more than one fifth of the global biosimilar market share by 2020, and the biotech industry is predicted to outpace the growth of the current, highest-grossing industries. Biotech start-ups account for roughly 13 per cent of all the listed companies on the South Korean stock market.

The key factors behind the diversification of pharmaceutical opportunities in the country are the rapid expansion of the biosimilar sector and a continued modernisation across its industry. Investments into the sector’s development by big players like Celltrion along with the Government’s capital and regulatory assistance, are predicted to facilitate the biosimilar market’s growth to $1.2 billion by 2019, with a global market share of 22 per cent by 2020.

The third edition of CPhI Korea, leading chemical and pharma ingredient event, bringing together leaders and key decision makers from around the world will be held from August 23 to 25, 2016 in COEX, Seoul, Korea giving a booster shot to the thriving the pharmaceutical industry of South Korea.

CPhI Korea – hosted by UBM EMEA and co-organised with the UBM Korea Corporation and Korean Pharmaceutical Traders Association (KPTA) – is set to return to Seoul for its third year in a row. The trade show is experiencing a huge surge in interest; with over 5000 pharma professionals (up 25 per cent from last year) from 50 different countries envisaged to converge at the COEX centre during the three-day event.

CPhI Korea is designed to harness this potential and will once again co-locate with ICSE, P-MEC and BioPh, along with the inaugural Health Ingredients (Hi) Korea.

The introduction of nutraceuticals, functional food, beverages, and dietary supplements – a sector that grew 11.5 per cent last year to reach $1.7 billion – will enhance the already-diverse range of suppliers on offer at CPhI Korea.

Moreover, large companies are investing, with R&D expenditure rising by 19 per cent and exports by 32.6 per cent in the last year. In fact, the overall pharma market is expected to exceed $24.3 billion by 2020.

CPhI Korea provides a dynamic meeting place for a wide range of industry suppliers to engage with purchasers and decision makers from the pharmaceutical industry, with highlights in 2016 including:

CPhI Korea Conference – a major part of the event that gives a realistic and holistic assessment of the industry’s present state and future trends.]

Exhibitor Showcases – provide an extra meeting place between exhibitors, visitors and press on the show floor. Participants such as Bision Biochem, KBI Biopharma and Malvern Korea, will be given 45-minute platforms to promote their new products, services, and innovations to the global and regional industry.

1:1 Business Matchmaking – a free online service designed to pre-arrange 1-to-1 meetings and business relationships.

Remarkably, the exhibitor base is expected to grow nearly 10 per cent in 2016 to 150, in response to last year’s stellar event, at which attendee numbers grew by 97 per cent. Additionally, thanks to the internationalisation of Korean pharma, overseas buyer attendees have also increased by 42 per cent.

Beyond the exhibition, a high-content conference expands on the theme of internationalisation, key sessions include: ‘The Latest Information on Japan Pharmacopoeia and Master Files’; ‘The success strategy to enter EU market with some cases of most frequent mistakes for (Korean) pharmaceutical companies with respect to API’s used’; ‘Generic Medicines: Registration and Pricing Policies in Europe’; and ‘Pharmaceutical Market in China’.

The event has been undertaken with the help of sponsors: MFDS (Ministry of Food and Drug Safety), Chungbuk Technopark, KBIZ (Korea Federation of Small and Medium Business), KOBIA (Korea Biomedicine Industry Association), KDRA (Korea Drug Research Association) and KIT (Korea Institute of Technology).

This year’s CPhI Korea is co-located with ICSE, P-MEC, BioPh and Hi Korea.

ICSE is a platform that brings suppliers together for contract manufacturing and services offering a forum for business development, networking and education.

P-MEC delivers innovative pharmaceutical machinery, equipment and technology to a global audience of decision makers through face-to-face networking and education.

BioPh provides a platform for exchanging and learning about pharmaceutical development and services.

Hi Korea connects ingredient suppliers and decision makers responsible for nutraceuticals, functional food and beverages and dietary supplements in the region.

Over 180 exhibitors from 15 countries will attend the event, covering different areas of the pharmaceutical supply chain. It allows the opportunity for businesses to network and build relationships within the Korean and pharmaceutical market.

Over 5000 pharmaceutical professionals are expected to participate, an increase of 25 per cent from the previous year. The majority of attendees are directions, executives, and managers. Additionally, there has also been a surge of 42 per cent in overseas buyer attendees.

This year, nine Indian companies – Auro Laboratories Limited, Coral Drugs Pvt. Limited, Biozeen, CALYX Chemicals & Pharma Ltd., Himedia Laboratories Pvt. Ltd., Metrochem API Pvt. Ltd., Harman Finochem Limited, Nectar Lifesciences Ltd, and Pharmalab India Private Limited are expected to exhibit at CPhI Korea 2016.

For both India and Korea, a relatively large share of the market is made up of generic medicines, giving companies opportunities to exchange expertise, especially through the 1:1 Business Matchmaking service. Both countries are looking to reduce healthcare expenditure and companies will be able to discuss comparable industry challenges and solutions. Another exciting area for collaboration is biotechnology, as both countries have started initiatives to support and invest in start-up companies. Since the emerging field has yet to be explored, the event is a productive space to discuss the newest innovations and build partnerships.

CPhI Korea had its second edition in 2015. An impressive 4,022 attendees and 137 exhibitors from 46 countries were present at the three-day event. Of the existing companies, 48 were domestically based and 89 were international. Many of Korea’s leading pharmaceutical companies promoted their products and strengthened partnerships with local and overseas buyers. The CPhI Korea 2015 conference, alongside the exhibition featured a wide range of top-level speakers from the government, academia and industry. Highlights from the speakers and discussions include topics like drug registration procedures in China, Korean drug regulatory systems, and predictions for opportunities in the European market.

According to Rutger Oudejans, Brand Director Pharma at UBM EMEA : “Korea has been one of the fastest developing and growing events in the CPhI portfolio. In just three years, it has grown to have executives and buyers attend from all over the world, with 5000 attendees and 180 exhibitors expected in 2016. CPhI plays an integral role in furthering the Korean pharma economy and we continue to develop the platform alongside the industry, with a health ingredients zone added this year. The event also provides a huge content platform to help both attendees and exhibitors make better-informed decisions and see the full scope of potential in the region”.