Korean biotech is best known abroad for three business models. Contract manufacturers such as Samsung Biologics produce biologic drugs for global pharma. Celltrion builds biosimilars of blockbuster antibodies and sells them in the US and Europe. And a set of platform companies license technology to large drugmakers: Alteogen's enzyme that turns intravenous antibodies into subcutaneous injections was licensed to Merck (MSD) for Keytruda, and Yuhan's lung cancer drug lazertinib was licensed to Johnson & Johnson and approved in the US in combination with amivantamab.
Obesity and GLP-1 drugs added a new layer. Hanmi Pharm runs its own GLP-1 programme and peptide pipeline, Peptron and Inventage Lab develop long-acting injection platforms, and D&D Pharmatech works on oral peptide delivery. Their share prices tend to move on clinical readouts, licensing announcements and the results of global GLP-1 leaders.
In Korea, clinical trial approvals and results, licensing deals (기술수출) and supply contracts are disclosed on DART, often with upfront and milestone amounts. Milestones are conditional — the headline value of a licensing deal is rarely what the company will actually receive. This page brings the filings and news for these companies together in English.
How to read this page
For licensing filings, separate the upfront payment (paid on signing, usually non-refundable) from development and sales milestones (paid only if targets are met). For clinical filings, check the phase, the primary endpoint and whether the result is top-line or final.
Information only — not investment advice. Headlines and filing titles are machine-translated from Korean; each links to the original Korean source. Updated: