Yuhan PharmaceuticalsㆍGC PharmaㆍChong Kun Dang Pharmaceutical above KRW 100 billion
Yuhan PharmaceuticalsㆍChong Kun Dang Pharmaceutical, rose by nearly 50% compared to 2019
Although top pharmaceutical companies are suffering from poor performance due to COVID-19, their research and development (R&D) costs are aggressively increasing.
Newsmp compiled the ordinary R&D cost of five top pharmaceutical companies, including Yuhan Pharmaceuticals, GC Pharma, Chong Kun Dang Pharmaceutical, Hanmi Pharmaceutical Co., and Dong-A ST Co., and found that the average increase was more than 20%.
Last year, Chong Kun Dang Pharmaceutical saw the largest increase in annual ordinary R&D cost, an increase of 49.2% from 2019.
Chong Kun Dang Pharmaceutical started with a 29.5% increase in 1Q, and the increase in each quarter jumped, exceeding 50% in 4Q and soaring to 77.2%.
Yuhan Pharmaceuticals’ annual ordinary R&D cost also gained 47.3% from 2019, showing an increase as much as Chong Kun Dang Pharmaceutical.
In 1Q, it decreased YoY slightly, but after 2Q, the increase exceeded 50% for the third consecutive quarter.
GC Pharma declined for the second straight quarter until the first half of the year, but after switching to a slight rise in 3Q, its growth boomed to 37.4% in 4Q. Consequently, the annual increase in ordinary R&D cost has also risen to 8.9%.
Dong-A ST Co.’s ordinary R&D cost has decreased a bit in 2Q and 3Q YoY after a 16.4% increase in 1Q.
However, in 4Q, it advanced 10.7% YoY, and ordinary R&D cost increased slightly from 2019.
Hanmi Pharmaceutical Co. saw its ordinary R&D cost decrease in 1 Q YoY but gained 17.6% in 2Q and soared to 69.2% in 3Q.
Still, in 4Q, the annual increase in ordinary R&D cost fell to a single digit, down 31.5% YoY.
Nevertheless, Hanmi Pharmaceutical Co.’s annual ordinary R&D cost exceeded KRW 200 billion at KRW 212.7 billion.
Following Hanmi Pharmaceutical Co., Chong Kun Dang Pharmaceutical spent KRW 146.5 billion, Yuhan Pharmaceuticals KRW 142.7 billion, and GC Pharma KRW 138 billion, using more than KRW 100 billion in ordinary R&D cost, followed by Dong-A ST Co. with KRW 76.1 billion.
Compared to sales, ordinary R&D cost increased 2.32%p from 2019 to 19.77% for Hanmi Pharmaceutical Co., which is close to the 20% level.
Yuhan Pharmaceuticals’ ordinary R&D cost ratio rose 2.26%p from 6.55% to 8.81%. In particular, it jumped to double digits, recording 10.71% in 4Q.
For Chong Kun Dang Pharmaceutical, it soared to 17.29% in 4Q, well exceeding 15%, but remained at 11.26% and entered the double-digit level.
Dong-A ST Co.’s ordinary R&D cost also rose 0.88%p from 2019 to 12.97%. Further, Dong-A ST Co. as well gained significantly in 4Q, surpassing 20.2%, the highest ordinary R&D cost ratio among the five companies.
On the other hand, GC Pharma fell 0.08% YoY. Although its ordinary R&D cost ratio fluctuated between 1Q and 3Q and rebounded by increasing 1.64%p in 4Q, the ratio has decreased YoY.
