[Edaily Reporter NA EUN-KYUNG ] # Pangen Biotech Inc.(222110), a biopharmaceutical company affiliated with Huons Co., Ltd., announced on the 19th that it is expanding its biosimilar product portfolio and contract development and manufacturing (CDMO) business based on its proprietary cell line development technology. The company is currently developing seven new biosimilars, with the goal of completing process development for three of them by the end of this year.

Pangen Biotech Inc. was founded in 1999, listed on the KOSDAQ market in 2016, and became part of Huons Co., Ltd. in 2024. Its current core businesses include the erythropoietin (EPO) biosimilar business, which promotes red blood cell production, and the biopharmaceutical CDMO business.

In the first half of this year, Pangen Biotech Inc.’s revenue reached 7.69 billion won, an 11% increase compared to the same period last year. Driven by expanded exports, EPO sales rose 40% during the same period, leading the company’s earnings growth. As of the end of June, EPO products accounted for 4.0 billion won of the company’s total order backlog of 7.7 billion won.

Pangen Biotech Inc.’s EPO biosimilar is used to treat anemia in patients with chronic kidney disease, among other indications. It is currently approved and sold in eight countries, including South Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Türkiye, Thailand, Brunei, and Myanmar. The company plans to expand its export markets to Taiwan, Paraguay, and Iraq, as well as the Middle East and Africa.

Building on its existing EPO business, Pangen Biotech Inc. is developing seven biosimilars using its proprietary “PanGen CHO-TECH” technology. The targets for development include ipilimumab (“Yervoy”), guselkumab (“Tremfya”), romosozumab (“Ibenity”), pembrolizumab (“Keytruda”), benralizumab (“Pasenra”), lisankizumab “Skyrich,” and mepolizumab “Nucala.”

Among these, four—ipilimumab, guselkumab, romosozumab, and pembrolizumab—have completed cell line development and are currently undergoing process development. The goal is to complete process development for three of these—ipilimumab, guselkumab, and romosozumab—by the end of the year. Benlarizumab, Lisankizumab, and Mepolizumab are currently in the cell line development phase.

Pangen Biotech Inc. also leverages its proprietary technology in its CDMO business. “Pangen Super-Tech” is a protein expression technology specialized for Chinese Hamster Ovary (CHO) cells—which are primarily used in biopharmaceutical production—and includes technologies for developing production cell lines and manufacturing processes. Pangen Biotech Inc. also possesses its own expression vector technology, used to introduce target genes into host cells, and has registered related patents in major countries both domestically and internationally.

Pangen Biotech Inc. operates a business model under which it charges cell line development fees for CDMO contracts utilizing this technology and receives ongoing royalties for the use of the expression system when clients commercialize products using the developed cell lines. This structure ensures that Pangen Biotech Inc.’s royalty income increases as the client’s product sales grow.

Since its establishment, the company has secured more than 100 service contracts with pharmaceutical and biotech companies, covering the development of cell lines and production processes for biopharmaceuticals, as well as the production of samples for preclinical and clinical trials. The company plans to expand its biopharmaceutical CDMO business by utilizing production facilities that comply with Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) standards.

Yoon Jae-seung, CEO of Pangen Biotech Inc., stated, “Pangen Biotech Inc. is strengthening its competitiveness in the biopharmaceutical business based on its proprietary core technologies and CDMO capabilities,” adding, “We will continue to grow our core EPO and CDMO businesses while expanding our business footprint in the global market.”