The two companies are expanding beyond co-promotion of blockbuster drugs into digital healthcare, clinical collaboration and real-world evidence generation
Yuhan and Boehringer Ingelheim Korea are elevating their 16-year pharmaceutical sales partnership into a comprehensive strategic alliance aimed at driving healthcare innovation and advancing South Korea's health care ecosystem.
Yuhan announced Friday that the two companies had signed a strategic MOU to contribute to the sustainable development of South Korea's health care ecosystem.
The partnership traces its roots to 2010, when the two companies began co-promoting the hypertension treatment Twynsta in South Korea. They have since worked together on major blockbuster products including the diabetes treatments Trajenta and Jardiance, maintaining close ties for 16 years.
More recently, the collaboration has expanded into cerebrovascular disease, with the addition of the acute ischemic stroke treatments Actilyse (2025) and Metalyse (2026) to the joint portfolio.
Under the new MOU, the companies will deepen cooperation around three pillars: advancing healthcare innovation and ecosystem development beyond existing business collaboration; expanding patient treatment benefits by combining complementary expertise; and building a joint foundation to foster a sustainable health care ecosystem and enhance patient value.
Areas of cooperation will include digital healthcare, patient support programs, disease awareness and early diagnosis campaigns, medical education and scientific exchange, and improved patient access.
The companies plan to explore the introduction of innovative new drugs in cardiovascular, renal and metabolic diseases, along with clinical collaboration and real-world evidence generation. To advance these efforts, the two sides will establish a joint working committee to discuss detailed implementation plans in stages.
The MOU marks a departure from the traditional co-promotion model, presenting an advanced co-growth framework between a domestic pharmaceutical company and a multinational that encompasses digital transformation and real-world clinical data accumulation.
"This agreement is meaningful in that it further develops the cooperative relationship the two companies have built and lays a new foundation for the future of South Korea's healthcare industry," Yuhan President Cho Wook-je said. "We will contribute to expanding treatment benefits and developing the ecosystem, drawing on Yuhan's research, development and business capabilities and our understanding of the domestic health care environment."
"Over the past 16 years, we have combined the strengths of both companies to improve patient access to innovative medicines and grown together," Boehringer Ingelheim Korea President Anna-Maria Boy said. "We will broaden the scope of our collaboration beyond drug supply to encompass healthcare innovation and the wider health care ecosystem, and deliver sustainable value to society."
silverpaper@heraldcorp.com
