South Korea’s BiocurePharm To Produce Biosimilars In Thailand

SEOUL - South Korean biopharmaceutical company BiocurePharm signed a memorandum of understanding with Thailand pharmaceutical distributor Kwang Tiang Dispensary to build a $20 million plant in Thailand to produce five types of biosimilar products for anemia and hepatitis, BiocurePharma announced Nov. 13.

If the project is implemented as scheduled, it will be the biggest biopharmaceutical deal by a member South Korean company at Daejeon Bio Venture Town, located in Daeduk Innopolis in central South Korea, says BiocurePharm President Sang-Mok Lee.

BiocurePharm is one of 13 biotech companies located in Daejeon Bio Venture Town.

Lee says Kwang Tiang is expected to invest roughly $20 million to buy the land needed for the construction of the factory. The Thai company will also be in charge of obtaining government licenses and overseas marketing approvals in Southeast Asian and Middle Eastern countries.

In return, BiocurePharm, established in August 2005, will provide its Thai partner with production technologies of its five biggest biosimilar products and it also will design and manage the plant, according to Lee.

Biosimilar products to be manufactured at the Thai plant include Amgen's granulocyte colony-stimulating factor Neupogen (filgrastim), Genentech's human growth hormone, Amgen's anemia drug Aranesp (darbepoetin), interferon alfa for hepatitis and beta interferon for multiple sclerosis.

Lee told PharmAsia News he anticipates signing a formal agreement with the Thai partner by March 2009, and the plant could start production of products by mid-2010.

Thailand was selected for the location because the Thai government will support the deal in various ways including a tax benefit, Lee said. Malaysia, which recently released guidelines for registering biosimilars, was also one of the countries being considered for the generics plant (Also see "Malaysia Releases Regulatory Guidance On Biosimilars, But Local Manufacturers Not Ready To Produce - Analyst" - Scrip, 23 Sep, 2008.).

Safety concerns were raised in October over the use of biosimilar erythropoietin stimulating agents in Thailand after a patient who received an EPO biosimilar, developed ESA-related pure red cell aplasia (Also see "Fresh Concerns Over Biosimilar ESA Use In Thailand Raises Takeda’s Hematide Prospects" - Scrip, 16 Oct, 2008.).

In a report on the Thai Drug Safety Monitoring Program, released by the Thailand Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers Association in July, there are 13 licensed ESA Products in Thailand including Eprex , Roche's Recormon and 11 other EPO alpha biosimilars, including 3SBio's Epiao , LG Life Science's Espogen and Epokine , Dong-A Pharmaceutical's Eporon and E.P. Griffin's (formerly Elanex Pharma) Hemax .

Daeduk Innopolis is near the Osong Bio-Technopolis, South Korea's newest outpost for its emerging biotech industry. In early October, the Osong Bio-Technopolis was the site of the Bio Korea conference, which also marked the opening of the Bio-Technopolis Oct. 8 (Also see "Asia Partnerships Critical To Big Pharma’s Drying Pipelines, Merck Exec Tells Bio Korea (Part 2 of 2)" - Scrip, 20 Oct, 2008.).

The Korean biotech industry has been posting strong growth in recent years due to strong support from the government, academic research institutions and industry. The Korean government believes the biotech industry will be one of the country's core industries in the future, pumping up further its export-driven economic growth. Analysts predict it could even become the number three preferred location for R&D on the heels of China and India in the next five years (Also see "Venture Capitalist Sheds Light On Market, Funding Options – Bio Korea (Part 1 of 2)" - Scrip, 10 Nov, 2008.).

- Peter Chang ([email protected])