Korean pharmaceutical companies, which traditionally have depended on the local market, will turn their eyes on the overseas market soon, a global industry expert predicted.

The Korean pharmaceutical makers are in a similar situation with their Japanese counterparts which also traditionally have a strong local pharmaceutical market, says John Hall, senior vice president of Quintiles Transnational, a Scotland-based pharmaceutical services firm, in an interview with The Korea Times.

``Japanese companies are going through the merger and acquisition process as part of their steps to survive through globalization because of the intensifying competition with multinational companies in the home market. Korean makers will do the same in the coming years,'' he predicts.

``There are many pharmaceutical companies and academic institutes having excellent science and product development capabilities in Korea. What is missing is their international development experience,'' he avers.

Quintiles, the world's largest pharmaceutical services provider, targets such Korean companies and academic institutes which are interested in doing business globally.

The company, entered in Korea in 2001, provided a flurry of professional services in the pharmaceutical industry ranging from the product development clinical tests, to funding to drug registration. Quintiles Korea employs 80 staff and grew 60 per cent for the past two years.

``About 90 per cent of our clients are local pharmaceutical companies, while the remaining 10 per cent are multinational companies doing business here. We aim to achieve $10 million in sales in 2006,'' John said.

Quintiles regards the Korean market as one of the important market forces for the growth, because the pharmaceutical services market tends to be roughly the same size as the pharmaceutical industry.

Korea's pharmaceutical market is currently the 11th largest in the world.

- koreatimes.co.kr