Strengthening R&D in Anticancer and Degenerative Brain Disease
Goal to Complete Phase 3 Clinical Trial of 'DMB-3115' This Year
Knowledge Sharing Platform 'Mediplex' Opens
New Songdo Factory to be Completed This Year... Expecting Enhanced Quality Competitiveness
Achieved Integrated 'A Grade' in Last Year's ESG Evaluation
[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-joo] Dong-A Socio Holdings Group has set its mission as "Endless challenge for the health and happiness of humanity" and its vision as "Becoming a global healthcare player by securing differentiated competitiveness across all business areas."
Based on these values, Dong-A ST, the group's specialty pharmaceutical business company, has embarked on a new leap to realize its vision of becoming a "Leading Company advancing with global new drugs." Their ambitions include ▲strengthening research and development (R&D) investment ▲nurturing the best-in-class new drugs within the group ▲establishing overseas new growth foundations ▲and enhancing cost and quality competitiveness to achieve sustainable management.
Strengthening R&D Investment... Building a Foundation for New Drug Development
First, Dong-A ST is accelerating R&D by selecting key therapeutic areas (TA) such as anticancer and degenerative brain diseases. In particular, they plan to discover future growth engines by expanding open innovation, promoting joint R&D with innovative companies in each field, and establishing differentiated new drug development platform technologies.
To this end, last year, they signed a joint R&D and licensing agreement with Simplex, an AI-based new drug development company, for new drug development targeting central nervous system (CNS) diseases. They also plan to expand their portfolio centered on proprietary new drugs and develop differentiated improved new drugs, while increasing product introduction through various strategies such as licensing-in leveraging strengths in ETC businesses like gastrointestinal, endocrine, and dermatology.
The area receiving the most attention is the R&D of the Stelara biosimilar 'DMB-3115.' DMB-3115 is currently undergoing global Phase 3 clinical trials, with completion targeted for the second half of this year.
Focused Nurturing of Best-in-Class New Drugs... Launching Knowledge Sharing Platform 'MEDIFLIX'
In the 'Best in Class' category, Dong-A ST is intensively nurturing differentiated pharmaceutical information processes, focusing on diabetes treatment drug 'Suganon' and functional dyspepsia treatment drug 'Motilitone.'
Additionally, to provide advanced pharmaceutical information, they established a Digital Communication (DC) team last year and successfully held the online symposium 'Korea Disease Week (KDW) 2021' for medical professionals nationwide in June last year.
In December last year, they also launched 'MEDIFLIX,' a medical knowledge sharing platform exclusively for doctors. MEDIFLIX, a renewal of Dong-A ST's online academic information portal 'Show Time,' is a compound word combining 'Medical' and 'Flicks,' symbolizing their ambition to become a leading video sharing platform in the medical community.
MEDIFLIX is composed of content focused on pure disease information and medical knowledge videos, moving away from product-centered content. Webinars and web symposiums conducted by Dong-A ST can also be viewed. Key content includes expert doctors' clinical know-how, latest insights and lectures on various diseases such as gastrointestinal, diabetes, and pain.
Expanding Export Pipeline... Maximizing Efficiency of New Plant in Songdo
In the overseas sector, they are building new growth foundations by expanding the export pharmaceutical pipeline, including new anti-tuberculosis drugs, and discovering new businesses. In the cost and quality competitiveness sector, productivity is being enhanced through process automation and efficiency improvements, and efficiency is maximized by completing a cGMP-level new plant in Songdo.
Last year, Dong-A ST completed the relocation of its Bio R&D Center to Songdo, Incheon, and established a bio cluster with DM Bio, a CMO company of Dong-A Socio Holdings Group's biopharmaceuticals production facility. This year, the completion of the new Songdo plant is expected to expand domestic and international solid dosage sales and strengthen quality competitiveness. The newly established plant will initially produce the diabetes treatment drug Suganon and gastritis treatment drug Stiren, gradually expanding to multiple products.
Dong-A ST owns two pharmaceutical production plants: Cheonan Campus and Daegu Campus. The main plant, Cheonan Campus, produces capsules and tablets, while the Daegu Campus produces biopharmaceuticals. Upon completion of the Songdo new plant, they plan to improve productivity by reallocating product lines and adjusting production lines by campus.
ESG Rating Growth to 'A Grade'... A Company Breathing Together with Society
The Korea Corporate Governance Service has been evaluating the sustainability management level of domestic listed companies annually since 2011 through ESG evaluations, which include social responsibility and environmental management. Last year, ESG evaluations were conducted on 950 listed companies, with ratings assigned to 765 companies. Ratings are divided into four categories: 'Integrated,' 'Environment,' 'Social,' and 'Governance.'
Dong-A ST, which received an integrated B+ rating in 2020, rose to an A rating in 2021. Notably, Dong-A ST, which had received a D rating in the environmental category, improved by three levels to a B+ rating. The social category rating was upgraded to A+, and the governance category received an A.
Dong-A ST stated, "This year, we plan to continue various activities to grow together with society, including support projects for underprivileged patients, continuous operation of environmental classrooms, and certification of environmental safety and health management systems."
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