Domestic pharmaceutical companies are targeting the Southeast Asian and Latin American markets as a bridgehead to their entry into the global market.

As these are still emerging markets, the companies believe that they can secure relative competitiveness in those markets. For this, the companies are exploring the market through various strategies such as seeking local approvals or indirect entry through agreements, among others.

According to industry sources on the 15th, pharmaceutical companies in Korea have recently started to accelerate their efforts to enter the Southeast Asian and Latin American markets.

The reason the companies are primarily targeting these emerging markets is due to their high growth potential, as they point of entry for the companies’ global expansion.

As these markets show high growth potential, domestic pharmaceutical companies have been prioritizing entry into these regions as a starting point for their global expansion.

To this end, domestic pharmaceutical companies have already confirmed their entry into various Southeast Asian countries such as Thailand, Vietnam, and Indonesia.

The need for companies to enter emerging markets in addition to markets such as the U.S. and Europe have been rising, sparking interest in the so-called ‘pharmerging’ markets.

Pharmerging is a new term that combines 'Pharma' and 'Emerging' and refers to emerging pharmaceutical markets such as the Middle East, Latin America, and Southeast Asia.

Due to the companies’ continued interest in emerging markets, the entry of pharmaceutical companies – especially mid-sized pharmaceutical companies - into the Southeast Asian market has risen further.

In fact, companies that have recently accelerated their entry into the Southeast Asian market include Yuyu Pharma and Jeil Pharmaceutical, which have been receiving marketing authorizations and signing related agreements.

First of all, Yuyu Pharma has received approval for its ‘Yuhylys Soft Cap (dutasteride)’ from the Philippines Food and Drug Administration and the Myanmar Food and Drug Administration.

Yuhylys is sold under the brand name ‘Armadart’ in the Philippines and the same as Yuhylys in Myanmar.

Jeil Pharmaceutical recently signed a memorandum of understanding with Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
(UKM) University Hospital for the exclusive supply of pharmaceuticals and R&D cooperation, and plans to promote technology transfer and local production with UKM through the agreement.

In addition, companies that have already entered the market are also making further inroads.

For example, LG Chem held a symposium on its 'Zemiglo Tab' at the Philippine College of Endocrinology, Diabetes & Metabolism conference.

LG Chem has been working to penetrate the global market since 2017 and had already entered the Philippines in 2019.

LG Chem plans to continue holding symposiums with Korean endocrinology professors in Thailand later this month and then in Latin America, including Mexico, in the second half of the year.

As the company has already entered the markets of all these countries, the symposium held will help expand the company's presence in the exporting countries.

In addition, Daewoong Pharmaceutical has recently applied for marketing authorization for its ‘Envlo Tab’ in Mexico.

Daewoong's Envlo has already entered Southeast Asian markets such as Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam, and is expanding its area to Latin America, seeking approval in Brazil and Mexico.

In addition, Hugel recently received marketing authorization for its PDO (polydioxanone) suture brand ‘Licellivi’ in Brazil and announced that it will establish a strategy for its rapid market settlement.

Korean companies are entering the Southeast Asian and Latin American markets because they are expecting growth in these markets.

According to an export support report released by the Korean Health Industry Development Institute, the pharmaceutical market in 6 major emerging countries (Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore) is worth about USD 20 billion, or KRW 26 trillion.

In particular, the per capita cost of drugs in the countries was about USD 36 last year, an increase of 6.6% YoY, and is expected to reach USD 46 by 2026 at an average annual growth rate of 7.4%.

In addition, in Latin America, the pharmaceutical market is growing rapidly due to the high demand for products and high prevalence of hypertension and gastrointestinal diseases. The market is expected to grow at an average of 7% per year through 2023 to reach a total value of USD 76 billion.

As such, more companies are also expected to take on the challenge of entering these emerging markets.