South Korea’s ABL Bio is tackling cancer and neurodegenerative diseases with its broad bispecific antibody pipeline and CEO Sang Hoon Lee outlines the firm’s multi-collaboration and licensing strategy.

As more biosimilar products are set to be released in South Korea, with a hefty number of ongoing late-stage clinical trials, the country is seeking to introduce a new separate guideline for insulin biosimilars. While South Korea has introduced biosimilar guidelines relatively earlier than some others, a local institute suggests these still need to be improved, pointing to a lack of clarity and implementation issues.

Within just three and a half years since its establishment, Samsung Bioepis has received its first regulatory approval for a biosimilar, meaning the Samsung Group affiliate is now set to release its version of Amgen’s Enbrel (etanercept) in South Korea late this year or early next. It will be the fourth locally developed biosimilar to hit the domestic market and is expected to be priced at about a 30% discount.

Biopharmaceutical experts from around the world gathered in Seoul at the recent Biologics World Korea 2015, at which a group of panelists discussed the strategic direction of the biologics industry in Asia and a paradigm shift in the global biologics market.