Kyungdong Pharmaceutical Selected for 7.4 Billion KRW National Project "Advancing Localization of Raw Materials for Hypertension Drugs Amid Supply Chain Shortages"

Kyungdong Pharmaceutical announced on the 22nd that it has been selected for the “Development of High-Quality Design-Based Production Process Technology for Hypertension Treatment Materials-Intermediates-Final Products” project under the 2024 Materials and Components Technology Development Program, hosted by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

With this project selection, the company will embark on the localization of raw materials for hypertension treatments, which currently have a high dependence on overseas sources. Furthermore, it aims to develop full-cycle manufacturing process technology that enables the production of both intermediates and final pharmaceutical products domestically.

To this end, the company signed an agreement with the Korea Institute for Advancement of Technology in September to carry out the project. The project is expected to receive a total investment of approximately 7.4 billion KRW, including 4.95 billion KRW in government funding over four and a half years.

This national project consists of three detailed sub-projects, with Kyungdong Pharmaceutical leading the second sub-project focused on the development of hypertension treatments. The research will cover ▲discovery of key starting materials for raw pharmaceutical ingredients for hypertension treatments ▲securing manufacturing technologies for intermediates and raw pharmaceutical ingredients ▲securing manufacturing technologies for final pharmaceutical products. Additionally, through establishing a quality evaluation system at each process stage, the company plans to conduct demonstration studies on the production of raw pharmaceutical ingredients and final products within the quality management standards (GMP) to enhance design-based quality of hypertension treatments.

A Kyungdong Pharmaceutical representative stated, “Since its establishment, Kyungdong Pharmaceutical has focused on new drug development and product manufacturing research, developing synthetic methods and new formulations for many pharmaceuticals that were previously dependent on imports, achieving significant import substitution effects. Through this project selection, we will gradually replace imported pharmaceuticals with domestically produced ones, establish a stable pharmaceutical supply chain, and contribute to enhancing global competitiveness by exporting at competitive prices.”

Meanwhile, with the rapidly increasing elderly population, the number of chronic disease patients is also rising quickly. Hypertension, one of the representative chronic diseases, is a major market with over 10 million treated patients domestically. However, raw pharmaceutical ingredients from China and India dominate most of the market, and the domestic self-sufficiency rate for raw pharmaceutical ingredients stands at about 13%. Therefore, the need for localization of raw pharmaceutical ingredients is emerging as it can have serious impacts on public health and life.