[Edaily Reporter Yoo Jin-hee] #WiseBirds, a comprehensive digital marketing firm, has stepped in as a “rescue pitcher” for South Korean pharmaceutical, biotech, and medical device (hereinafter “bio”) companies looking to export to the U.S. Leveraging its unrivaled capabilities in integrated global digital media management, WiseBirds aims to lower the local marketing barriers faced by domestic bio companies and usher in an era of annual advertising revenue exceeding 1 trillion won.

New Dedicated Team for U.S. Prescription Drug Commercial Advertising Established

According to industry sources on the 17th, WiseBirds recently established a dedicated team for direct-to-consumer (DTC) biotech advertising targeting U.S. consumers and has begun providing full-scale support to address the needs of the domestic healthcare industry.

The U.S. is considered one of the very few countries in the world where DTC advertising is legally permitted. According to global market research firm eMarketer, digital advertising spending in the U.S. healthcare and pharmaceutical sectors is projected to reach $26.2 billion (approximately 37 trillion won) by 2026, forming the world’s largest market.

Amid a rapid shift in the U.S. pharmaceutical, biotech, and medical device advertising market from traditional TV and print to digital platforms, WiseBirds plans to leverage its advanced media optimization capabilities.

WiseBirds’ entry into this market is also expected to create new opportunities for companies that have already entered or are preparing to enter the U.S. market. Previously, even companies with competitive products found it difficult to sell in the U.S. market without partnering with local distributors or global biotech firms. However, #Celltrion and #SK Biopharm have recently established a formula for success through strategic marketing, including direct-to-consumer (DTC) campaigns, and are setting a new benchmark for Korean biotech companies.

In the case of Celltrion, its U.S. subsidiary, Celltrion USA, recorded sales of 132.2 billion won in the first quarter of this year, marking a steep 137% growth compared to the same period last year (55.8 billion won). At the same time, its quarterly net income turned from a 25.6 billion won loss to a 16.7 billion won profit. This improvement in performance was largely driven by the strong performance of “Zimpentra,” a treatment for autoimmune diseases, which the company began selling directly in the U.S. market in March 2024.

In the first quarter of 2024, during the early stages of Celltrion USA’s direct-to-consumer (DTC) sales, revenue stood at just 153억 won. This marks a nearly tenfold increase in quarterly revenue within two years of Zimpentra’s launch. On an annual basis, Celltrion USA’s revenue more than doubled, rising from 1,467억 won in 2024 to 3,049억 won in 2025.

Experts cite direct-to-consumer (DTC) marketing as one of the key factors behind Zimpentra’s success. In fact, when Zimpentra was launched, Celltrion launched a large-scale media advertising campaign spanning YouTube, TV channels, and over-the-top (OTT) platforms. The digital advertising campaign, which intuitively conveyed the strengths of the self-administerable subcutaneous injection formulation, expanded to social media (SNS) channels such as Instagram and LinkedIn, thereby enhancing Zimpentra’s credibility.

Positioning Itself as a Partner for Mid-Sized and Small Biotech Companies Entering the U.S. Market

However, despite these success stories,

small and mid-sized

biotech companies often find themselves unable to systematically navigate the complex regulatory requirements for direct-to-consumer (DTC) and healthcare professional advertising in

the

U.S., as well as the challenges of effective media management and creative production standards. Even when they attempt to collaborate with local foreign marketing agencies, they often face a vicious cycle where communication is poor and high agency fees erode profitability. Consequently, there has been a consistent call within the industry for a specialized, unified access platform and capable domestic partners to lower the barriers to exporting to the U.S.

This is the role that WiseBuzz has taken upon itself. And it has the track record to back it up. WiseBuzz is the only marketing agency in Korea to have secured top-tier partnership badges from all 11 major domestic and international digital media platforms, including Meta (Facebook and Instagram), Google (including YouTube), TikTok, LinkedIn, and Netflix.

Furthermore, having started as Facebook’s first marketing partner in Korea, the company has won the Meta Agency First Awards in the Performance Hero category for six consecutive years and has been consistently selected as a Google Premier Partner—an accolade reserved for Google’s top-tier agencies—demonstrating its recognized operational expertise. This infrastructure is considered the optimal foundation for implementing precision marketing in U.S. healthcare advertising, which requires simultaneously targeting both patients and healthcare professionals.

WiseBirds’ strengths lie in its data-driven, multi-faceted performance analysis and its expertise in automation solutions. The company’s proprietary AI-based advertising automation platform, “Nest Ads Manager,” is regarded by the financial investment industry as being on par with those of global tech advertising firms listed on the U.S. Nasdaq.

The growth in advertising revenue further enhances WiseBuzz’s credibility. After successfully acquiring the full-service advertising agency Ad Efficiency in 2023, WiseBuzz recorded 5792억 won in advertising revenue last year, achieving high growth of 24.6% year-over-year. According to a survey by the Korea Federation of Advertising Associations, this represents the highest growth rate among the top 10 advertising companies in Korea.

Choi Ho-jun, Co-CEO of WiseBirds, noted, “As the U.S. DTC advertising market rapidly diversifies from television to digital platforms and generative AI search, the door has swung wide open for domestic healthcare companies to communicate directly with local audiences.” He added, “However, without thorough platform optimization and the ability to precisely control targeting signals, massive marketing budgets can easily go to waste.”

He went on to emphasize, “We will implement a phased refinement process to accumulate tangible success stories in North American exports and firmly establish ourselves as the most trusted global marketing partner for domestic biotech companies.”