Yuhan Corporation has set its sights on becoming one of the top 50 global pharmaceutical companies and is making concentrated investments in research and development (R&D). Over the past five years, its accumulated R&D expenditures have surpassed 1 trillion won, and the company invests more than 10% of its revenue in R&D each year.
Yuhan Corporation became the first domestic pharmaceutical company to surpass annual sales of 2 trillion won last year. The company's performance growth has been significantly contributed by the non-small cell lung cancer treatment drug 'Lecoraza' (ingredient name: Lazertinib), which received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as the first domestically developed anticancer drug.
The company transferred the global commercialization rights of Lecoraza to Johnson & Johnson's (J&J) pharmaceutical subsidiary Janssen for up to 1.4 trillion won in 2018. Subsequently, a combination therapy with J&J's anticancer drug 'Rivivant' (ingredient name: Amivantamab) was approved in the U.S. in August last year. The drug also received market approval in Europe in December.
The global expansion of Lecoraza is gaining momentum. In the first quarter of this year, it received market approvals in the U.K., Canada, and Japan. Currently, it is undergoing the product approval process in China. According to the technology transfer agreement, when Lecoraza enters a specific country, Yuhan Corporation will receive milestone payments. It will also receive royalties from sales of Lecoraza in the future.
Recently, the subcutaneous (SC) formulation of Rivivant received a positive recommendation for approval in Europe, signaling an increase in Lecoraza's sales. As the prescriptions for the combination therapy of Rivivant SC and Lecoraza expand, Yuhan Corporation's revenue will also increase. Industry insiders report that Lecoraza is highly likely to grow into a blockbuster drug with annual sales exceeding 1 trillion won.
The export of new drug technology and commercial success increasingly generate added value. Yuhan Corporation reinvests the revenue from innovative drugs into R&D, striving to establish a virtuous cycle where continuous R&D achievements follow. The company invests more than 10% of its revenue in R&D and also operates the 'Yuhan Innovation Program (YIP)' to actively discover new drug technologies from external sources.
This year marks the fourth iteration of the YIP, which is Yuhan Corporation's unique open innovation focused on basic research. It supports verification research to develop creative and innovative ideas from basic researchers at domestic universities and public research institutions, and based on the results, Yuhan Corporation collaborates on follow-up research. Through this, the company can secure future innovative drug R&D technology.
The company announced that several new drug candidates that could become the second Lecoraza have shown promising results. Yuhan Corporation presented the main data from a Phase 1b clinical trial targeting patients with chronic spontaneous urticaria for its allergy treatment candidate 'Resigercept' (YH35324) at the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology (AAAAI) in February and at the European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (EAACI) in June. The company stated that it has confirmed the safety in clinical trials and the potential to overcome the limitations of existing treatments and apply to more patients.
The bi-specific immune anticancer antibodies YH32364 and YH32367 are also in Phase 1 clinical trial stages. A company official noted, "Following the success of Lecoraza, we will continue to develop innovative drugs and grow as a representative domestic pharmaceutical company on the global stage."