Yuyu Pharma Establishes U.S. Subsidiary to Directly Target Pet Market

Yuyu Pharma has established a local subsidiary in the United States to directly target the U.S. pet pharmaceutical and health supplement market. This move marks the company's second initiative related to the pet business, following its investment in a U.S. startup in April.

According to Yuyu Pharma on November 19, the company invested 4.5 million dollars (approximately 6.5 billion won) to establish its holding company, Yuyu Venture, in the United States. Yuyu Venture manages two subsidiaries: Yuyu Bio and Mervyn's Petcare.

Yuyu Bio is engaged in the pet biopharmaceutical business, developing recombinant protein therapeutics with extended duration of action and improved compliance. The company is particularly focused on treatments for feline psoriasis among chronic diseases in pets and is currently working on identifying clinical candidates.

Mervyn's Petcare operates in the pet health supplement business, concentrating on cat-specific supplements for joints, skin, digestive health, and multivitamins. The first products from Mervyn's Petcare-a dental health supplement and a stick-type nutritional supplement for cats-are being prepared for launch in the U.S. market in the first half of next year, with distribution channels currently being established.

Yuyu Bio and Mervyn's Petcare have opened offices at the Magnify UCLA campus, a startup incubation program operated by the California NanoSystems Institute, minimizing initial investment costs such as office rental. The companies were selected after a competitive evaluation process against other local startups, which serves as an objective validation of their business growth potential. Currently, only 22 startups, including Yuyu Bio and Mervyn's Petcare, are part of Magnify. Meanwhile, the California NanoSystems Institute (CNSI) is a state research institute jointly operated by UCLA and UC Santa Barbara, established in 2000.

Yoo Wonsang, CEO of Yuyu Pharma, stated, "While preparing to enter the pet industry, we identified significant growth potential, especially in cat-related products. Yuyu Bio and Mervyn's Petcare plan to focus on biopharmaceuticals and health supplements for cats," adding, "By conducting our pet business directly in the U.S. and bringing on board a partner with a proven track record of generating tens of millions of dollars in annual sales, we aim to accelerate the business even further."

According to the American Pet Products Association, there will be 94 million households with pets in the United States in 2025, accounting for 51% of all households, with 49 million of these households owning cats.

According to the 'Pet Pharmaceutical Industry Development Plan' announced by the government in April, the global animal pharmaceutical market is projected to grow from 47 billion dollars (approximately 68 trillion won) in 2022 to 99.5 billion dollars (approximately 145 trillion won) by 2032, with an average annual growth rate exceeding 7.7%. The domestic animal pharmaceutical industry reached 1.3 trillion won in 2023 and is expected to grow at a rate of 5% through 2027.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.