Korean Industry "Must Raise R&D Spending"

South Korean pharmaceutical manufacturers have not increased the percentage of their turnover spent on R&D in the last five years, according to figures published by the Ministry of Health and Social Affairs.

The combined R&D investment of the country's top 100 pharmaceutical companies totaled 104.9 billion won ($130 million) in 1993, or 3.24% of their combined annual turnover of 3,241.9 billion won ($4 billion). This compares with an average annual percentage of 3.14% spent in 1992, 3.34% in 1991, 3.28% in 1990 and 3.23% in 1989. The combined percentage spent on R&D by the pharmaceutical industries of advanced countries averages around 15%, the Ministry noted.

Lucky Ltd Spent 60%, But Others Less Than 1% By far the biggest investor among Korean drug companies last year was Lucky Ltd, which spent 10.9 billion won or 60% of its total turnover on R&D, largely in the area of genetic engineering projects. Second was green Cross Medical Corp, which spent 9.3 billion won or 6.5% of turnover, followed by Cheil Food and Chemicals Inc on 7.8 billion won or 6.1% and Sunkyong Pharma Co Ltd at 6.1 billion won or 5.3%. South Korea's largest pharmaceutical manufacturer, Dong-a Pharmaceutical Co Ltd, spent only 6.1 billion won on R&D, or 3% of its total turnover, while the percentage spent by the seventh largest company, Youngjin Pharma Co, was only 0.42% or 443 million won.