Gaining entry to a massive market through unwavering trust
2025.02.28 14:47
Japan is the world's third-largest pharmaceutical market, following the U.S. and China, with an estimated value of USD 86 billion, which is ten times the size of Korea's pharmaceutical market.
Ohsong Pharm is the first Korean pharmaceutical company to enter the expansive Japanese pharmaceutical market.
Ohsong Pharm has set its sights on a new blue ocean in the saturated Korean pharmaceutical market and is navigating its unique path forward.
For the first time as a pharmaceutical company in Korea
Ohsong Pharm's primary product is injectable penicillin, but the domestic market for this drug has limited growth potential.
Unless there are significant changes, the current situation is expected to remain the same.
To diversify our revenue stream, we have focused on the Japanese pharmaceutical market, which is ten times larger than Korea's.
Yoo Hyun-na, General Manager of Ohsong Pharm's Management Headquarters, explained the company's decision to expand into the Japanese market.
Ohsong Pharm primarily operates as a contract manufacturing organization (CMO), outsourcing the production and quality control of pharmaceuticals to Japanese companies.
Over the course of a decade, it has successfully established a presence in the challenging Japanese market by steadily building trust.
In 2017, the company established a subsidiary in Japan, Brio Pharma, to strengthen its presence in the Japanese market by acquiring a manufacturing license in Japan.
"Even Japanese companies often struggle with the complexity of Japanese regulations.
BRIO assists Japanese companies by obtaining Japanese permits on their behalf.
Additionally, Brio offers revenue model consulting and provides solutions to export challenges for domestic companies preparing to enter Japan."
By acting as a coordinator, Ohsong Pharm has developed a business model that is unprecedented for domestic pharmaceutical companies.
The proof of this lies in Brio's performance.
BRIO is the first Korean company to receive approval from the Japanese Food and Drug Administration for four products.
This achievement is unparalleled by any other domestic pharmaceutical company.
A virtuous cycle of win-win with Jeju.
Ohsong Pharm didn’t initially focus on Jeju.
When the company began discussions about relocating its headquarters in 2011, the most likely location was Cheonan, Chungcheongnam-do, where the CMO's affiliated plant is located. As a result, Jeju was not considered an option at that time.
"But the CEO had a strong positive impression of Jeju, so the decision was made to finalize the headquarters there."
Ohsong Pharm moved to Jeju in January 2013 and settled into its current facility in October.
Although relocating to Jeju offered benefits like a natural setting and a better work environment, attracting talent remained a challenge.
We run a series of high-value-added businesses—selling in Japan, manufacturing in Korea, and reselling in Japan. However, industry benchmarks classify Ohsong Pharm’s operations solely as a wholesale business, leaving no other positioning options.
As a result, business ministries were hesitant to fund R&D for wholesalers.
"That didn’t mean we just waited passively.
We actively met with officials, giving multiple presentations to help them understand Ohsong Pharm's business model. But in the end, we weren’t selected."
What factors contributed to Ohsong Pharm being chosen as a Jeju Local Small and Medium Enterprise?
Although not everyone fully understood our new business models, an increasing number of interested parties recognized its value.
Since Ohsong Pharm serves as a coordinator, it does not operate its own labs or factories.
From an administrative standpoint, securing research and development funding is challenging.
This was a tough sell to interested parties since they had never encountered a business model like Ohsong Pharm's before.
Despite the challenges, Osong Pharm was eventually acknowledged by Jeju as a Global Strong Company.
Ohsong Pharm is currently expanding its business and preparing to enter the fields of regenerative medicine and medical devices.
It anticipates the day when its unique business model will shine even brighter on Jeju Island.
Ohsong Pharm, Whan In Pharm Receive Generic Drug License for Antidepressant Escitalopram Tablets in Japan
Ohsong Pharm (CEO Kim Young-joong), specializing in exporting pharmaceuticals to Japan, announced on February 15 that it has received Japanese PMDA approval for its SSRI antidepressant escitalopram tablets through its subsidiary, Brio Pharma, in Japan.
The product was developed through a co-development agreement with Whan In Pharm, a company specializing in the research and development of CNS medicines.
In 2017, Ohsong Pharm set up Brio Pharma, a subsidiary in Tokyo, Japan and became Korea's first company to secure a license for "Class 1 drug manufacturing and sales business.”
In August 2022, we became Korea’s first pharmaceutical company to receive Japanese PMDA approval for our in-house-developed generic osteoporosis treatment, Ibandronate Pre-filled Syringe Injection. We have since been supplying the product through sales contracts with leading partners in Japan.
For escitalopram tablets, we became the first to obtain PMDA approval for oral solids in Japan through our own initiative.
Oral solids are among the more challenging formulations to develop, as they require bioequivalence testing on Japanese people in a Japanese laboratory. Meeting the stringent Japanese PMDA regulations and passing rigorous audits is a demanding process.
A representative from Ohsong Pharm said, “We are the only domestic pharmaceutical firm with a system to independently enter Japan’s advanced drug market. With the approval of a second product in August 2022, we have strengthened our position for further growth as a specialized pharmaceutical company in Japan.
We are also expanding our research efforts into challenging products, including anti-cancer drugs and highly active agents, through development agreements with leading domestic partners.”
