Clinical Trials Arena analysis finds licensing deals surged 113% in a year; ADC and cell and gene therapies lead; Asia-Pacific emerges as new drug development hub

[Getty Images Bank]
[Getty Images Bank]

South Korea has firmly established itself as a global hub for new drug licensing, with 36 percent of its drug pipeline comprising first-in-class treatments and the value of technology export deals more than doubling in a single year, according to a new industry report.

The findings come from the "Clinical Research Revolution in Asia" report published by Clinical Trials Arena, a global clinical strategy publication, and market research firm GlobalData. The data, covering 2023 through the first half of 2025, show that first-in-class drugs account for 36 percent of South Korea's active drug pipeline.

Analysts say the figures signal a fundamental shift in South Korea's research and development approach — away from the "fast follower" model of improving or replicating existing drugs and toward a "first mover" strategy that targets unmet needs in the global pharmaceutical market.

South Korean biotech companies have been particularly prominent in antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) and cell and gene therapies (CGT), two next-generation anticancer drug categories drawing intense global attention.

The R&D momentum is translating into major commercial results. Global technology licensing deals for South Korean new drugs reached $7.86 billion in the first half of 2025, a 113 percent surge from the same period a year earlier, the report said. The figures reflect rapidly growing confidence and investment from global pharmaceutical majors in South Korea's drug pipeline.

The report identified South Korea's medical data environment as a key competitive advantage. The country's national health insurance system covers 97 percent of the population under a single insurer, enabling access to precise and extensive medical data and allowing for fast, systematic recruitment of clinical trial participants — from healthy volunteers to specific patient populations. Efficient regulatory procedures have further encouraged multinational pharmaceutical companies to invest in multi-country clinical trials and manufacturing operations in South Korea.

Government policy support has also underpinned the growth. Last year, the government launched the National Bio Committee and unveiled a roadmap to become one of the world's top five biotech nations by 2035. To that end, it established a 1 trillion won ($724 million) fund to stimulate private investment in biopharmaceuticals and vaccines.

China, meanwhile, is evolving into a "fast innovator," leveraging its vast patient population and accelerated approval processes to speed up drug development. The time from early compound discovery to investigational new drug approval is 50 to 70 percent shorter than the global average, and late-stage clinical trial patient recruitment runs up to five times faster than in the United States or Europe.

China has absorbed more than 75 percent of Asia-Pacific venture capital investment since 2019 and is a dominant force in the global technology licensing market. Sales by Chinese pharmaceutical companies are projected to nearly triple, from $12.6 billion in 2025 to $36.8 billion in 2031.

Japan is consolidating its position as a first-in-class drug development powerhouse, drawing on a large pool of cardiovascular disease patients driven by its aging population and a mature regulatory infrastructure. Between 2015 and 2023, Japan secured the most FDA new molecular entity approvals in Asia, with 24 designations.

Backed by substantial funding from the Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development, Japan is also strengthening its capabilities in regenerative medicine and cell and gene therapies through the Sakigake designation system — a program similar to the FDA's breakthrough therapy designation that incentivizes world-first approvals and offers preferential drug pricing.

"Forty-three percent of the global innovative therapy pipeline now originates in the Asia-Pacific region, signaling a clear eastward shift in the center of gravity for new drug development," the report said. "South Korea, China and Japan are fundamentally reshaping the global clinical research landscape — long dominated by Western nations — through sustained government investment, regulatory reform and robust biotech ecosystems."


silverpaper@heraldcorp.com