Korea’s vaccine market expands amid Covid-19 pandemic

The significance of vaccine sovereignty is becoming increasingly important in the protracted fight against the Covid-19 pandemic due to the disruption of stable vaccine supplies and emerging variants, a report on vaccine trends said Thursday.

Homegrown vaccine development and securing sufficient supplies have become crucial for countries to remain competitive, it added.

The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety published the latest volume of vaccine industry trends for the first half of 2021, along with its Center for Vaccine Safety Technology and the Korea Biomedicine Industry Association.

(Source: Korea Biomedicine Industry Association)

According to the report, Korea’s vaccine market grew by 3.2 percent on the annual average from 2015 to 2019 to $451 million in 2020, accounting for 2 percent of the global market. The growth rate was higher than the worldwide market growth rate of 0.6 percent from 2019 to 2020. The domestic vaccine market grew by 30.3 percent from 2019 to 2020.

Vaccine production in 2020 amounted to 730.1 billion won ($622 million), an increase of 54.7 percent from 481.2 billion in 2019, placing second in total biopharmaceutical production following the 1.99 trillion won of recombinant drugs.

Vaccine exports totaled 152 million, up 35.5 percent from 2019, and imports rose 28.5 percent to 297 million.

The vaccine industry's growth was led by quadrivalent vaccines made by domestic pharmaceutical companies, including SK Bioscience, GC Pharma, and Boryung Biopharma, which recorded four-fold sales growth over the past two years.

The report explained that the nation’s production, export, and import of vaccines in 2020 also skyrocketed compared to the previous year, riding on the government’s stress on the importance of vaccination against other diseases such as flu.

It also noted that six clinical trials related to vaccine development were going on in the first half of 2021. Three of them are for developing Covid-19 vaccines.

The government also approved six vaccines, five of which for preventing the Covid-19 infection.

Among the homegrown Covid-19 vaccines, SK Bioscience's vaccine has entered a phase 3 clinical trial.

The government has established seven mid- to long-term plans to prepare for infectious diseases starting with the second basic biotechnology promotion since 2006. The report also said that it is developing various policies to revitalize the vaccine industry due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

Among mid- to long-term plans for infectious diseases released in the first half of 2021, the government plans to support vaccine development to expand the base of the domestic bio-health sector and respond quickly to Covid-19 and overcome the pandemic.

The food and drug safety ministry vowed to fully support vaccine development and production by reforming regulations to prevent excessive restrictions from developing vaccines and provide guidelines, educations, and consultations for civil appeals.

"As part of the national vaccine technical support project, we will find which small- and medium-sized vaccine developers have difficulties developing vaccines and provide support and consultation for all stages up to getting approval," the vaccine safety technology center said.

It added that domestic companies with plants in Korea and ventures with basic technology could apply for support, and the government will help them expand from domestic to overseas markets.