[人터뷰]Cho Yong-jun, CEO of Donggu Bio, “Leaps forward as a global total healthcare company… We will become a new drug development company” : ZUM News

‘Extensive moves’ including investment in CDMOs in prescription drugs, medical devices, cosmetics, and bio ventures

“Based on first place in dermatology, we aim to rank 5th in comparator and otolaryngology within a few years… and target internal medicine as well.”

Qurient’s largest shareholder… Global clinical trials for tuberculosis treatment with the goal of new drug approval in 2026

Cho “Created synergy with investment companies through ‘point, line, plane strategy’ and combined logistics and distribution”

Local subsidiary in Mongolia, strategic investment in Laos… Targeting neighboring markets through Vietnam

【Hwaseong (Gyeonggi-do) = Reporter Kim Seung-ho】Donggu Biopharmaceuticals is preparing one by one to leap forward from a local traditional pharmaceutical company to a global total healthcare company. Based on prescription drugs, we are gradually expanding our business to include bio business, including contract development and manufacturing (CDMO) of biopharmaceuticals, manufacturing of medical devices and cosmetics, and investment in bio ventures.

The company is transforming into a global company by expanding not only to the Asian region centered on Mongolia, Vietnam, the Philippines, and Laos, but also to the European Union (EU) and the Americas.

Cho Yong-jun, CEO (Vice Chairman) of Donggu Biopharmaceuticals, said in an interview with this magazine on the 10th, “The company has been ranked first in the dermatology category, including allergies and skin diseases, for 15 years. In urology prescriptions, which is currently ranked 4th to 5th, we will also rank first in the next few years. “We will do our best to do this,” he said, adding, “In particular, we will go beyond generic drugs to become a company that develops improved new drugs and ultimately new drugs.”

Donggu Biopharmaceuticals was founded in 1970 as Donggu Pharmaceutical by the late Chairman Cho Dong-seop, the father of CEO Cho Yong-jun. His career in the related field has already exceeded 50 years.

CEO Cho also serves as the chairman of the board of the Korea Pharmaceutical Cooperative, which has pharmaceutical-related small and medium-sized companies as members.

Donggu Biopharmaceutical’s Hyangnam factory in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi-do is a ‘production mecca’ for CEO Cho’s dream to come true.

The Hyangnam factory, equipped with state-of-the-art equipment at the Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMP) level, holds licenses for 374 products and 857 CDMO items. In particular, the production capacity of not only hard capsules but also soft capsules, which are known to be difficult to produce, ranks second in Korea. It has facilities capable of producing 300 million soft capsules and 140 million hard capsules on an annual basis.

CEO Cho is taking on various challenges for production innovation by introducing smart factories and automated robots to the Hyangnam Factory. In fact, the production line at the Hyangnam factory requires almost no human hands, except for some stages of product packaging. In addition, we have continued to take on the challenge of replacing pharmaceutical production equipment monopolized by the EU and the US with domestically produced equipment, and are reaping visible results throughout the manufacturing line.

CEO Cho said, “Our goal is to raise the otolaryngology field, including respiratory infections, from the current 11th place to 5th place. In particular, the large internal medicine market, which accounts for about 40% of the entire pharmaceutical market, will also grow by steadily targeting treatments for peptic ulcers, hyperlipidemia, etc. “We plan to use it as a driving force,” he added.

The plan is to realize the dream of developing new drugs through synergy with invested bio venture companies. A representative example is Qurient, a KOSDAQ listed company. Donggu Biopharma invested 10 billion won in Qurient this year and became the largest shareholder.

CEO Cho said, “Qurient is currently conducting global clinical trials on the tuberculosis treatment ‘Telasevec’ with the goal of obtaining new drug approval in 2026. We are looking forward to the synergy with Qurient.”

Donggu Biopharmaceuticals is the majority shareholder, holding a 16.8% stake in Novacell Technology, a peptide R&D company. In addition, it has also invested in DND Pharmatech, a new drug developer for degenerative brain nerve diseases, BioNote, an animal disease diagnostic reagent company, and Genome & Company, a microbiome new drug developer.

CEO Cho invested 15 billion won to establish Lofty Rock Investment, a pharmaceutical and bio investment company, with 100% equity, and has it as a subsidiary.

He said, “It is the so-called ‘point, line, and plane strategy’ that invests in companies, creates synergy by meeting companies, and adds logistics and distribution to this to produce three-dimensional results. Joint pharmaceutical logistics for small and medium-sized pharmaceutical companies in Dream Industrial Complex in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province. Pico Innovation, which operates a distribution center based on the center, aims to conduct direct transactions with 15,000 pharmacies by next year.

As chairman of the board of directors of a pharmaceutical cooperative, he led the establishment of Pico Innovation and even created the industry’s first joint logistics center.

The logistics center, where 26 pharmaceutical companies are united, was completed in March of last year and is playing an important role as a capillary that transports pharmaceuticals across the country. It is known that about 10 additional companies have expressed their desire to join.

The CDMO division, which is still producing on consignment from 111 companies, saw sales increase from 42.4 billion won in 2021 to 52.6 billion won last year.

CEO Cho said, “CDMO sales are growing rapidly, with an average annual growth rate of 13.5% over the past four years. About 30% of the company’s total sales come from CDMOs. In particular, CDMOs have excellent profit margins and high added value. Accordingly, R&D-based “We will continue to expand related businesses based on our strategic sales,” he explained.

CEO Cho has been frequently traveling overseas to target the global market for several years.

CEO Cho said, “In Mongolia, we signed a contract with Munkinkun, a local pharmaceutical manufacturer, and MEIC, a pharmaceutical distributor, to establish a local joint venture and make equity investments, and we also established a local corporation.” He also added, “In Vietnam, the parent company of a local pharmaceutical company (Phil Interpharma) “We signed an MOU with Phil International on consignment development, production, and supply for sales in Korea and Asia, and we are considering establishing a future production base in Laos,” he said.

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