Traditional pharmaceutical bio companies are entering the companion animal medicine and feed market worth 2.5 trillion won, attracting attention as they seek new growth engines and external expansion. Yuhan Corporation, Daewoong Pharmaceutical, Donghwa Pharmaceutical, Dongkuk Pharmaceutical, Kwangdong Pharmaceutical, Ildong Pharmaceutical, and CMG Pharmaceutical are among the companies that have declared their entry into the pet market and are taking active steps. These companies are expanding their brands by launching veterinary professional treatment and prescription animal medicines such as injections, antibiotics, and anthelmintics, as well as zoonotic medicines, nutritional supplements, and feed. For this reason, a significant number of biopharmaceutical companies have the intention to preoccupy the market by mobilizing their strengths in formulation development, sales, and marketing to launch 'veterinary medicine/feed' variants of 'drugs/health functional foods' in the rapidly growing pet market. In particular, animal medicines and feed conversion products of OTC and health-functional foods are produced in so-called human-grade raw materials and human-grade manufacturing facilities and are competitive as they secure quality enough to be consumed by humans. In addition, China's pet market, which raises about 200 million pets, reaches 38 trillion won (feed 21 trillion won) as of 2020, making it an attractive industry because it can secure infinite cash cows if it is pioneered only in export markets. is evaluated as

First of all, Yuhan Corp.'s veterinary medicine division (AHC), which is achieving external sales of 30 billion won, is leading the related market by increasing the number of veterinary hospital customers. One product that draws attention is GedaCure, a treatment for cognitive dysfunction in dogs launched in May 2021. Crisdesalazine, the main ingredient of GedaCure, is a new drug for Alzheimer's disease discovered with support from the Ministry of Science and ICT. The drug was approved as a domestic synthetic new drug for animals in February 2021 after its efficacy and safety were proven in dogs suffering from cognitive dysfunction syndrome similar to Alzheimer's dementia in humans. Currently, more than 1,300 veterinary hospitals through Yuhan Corp. prescribe it. The fact that GedaCure is effective for canine cognitive dysfunction syndrome as well as meningitis was disclosed at the Fall International Conference of the Korean Veterinary Society held at the Jeju International Convention Center in November 2022. It is expected to grow as a blockbuster drug in the future.

In September 2021, Dongkuk Pharmaceutical entered the pet market by introducing Canidol, a veterinary medicine for periodontal disease, for the first time in Korea. Canidol is a pet-only product of Insadol, a 50-billion-dollar blockbuster over-the-counter gum treatment. Canidol contains herbal medicine ingredients, corn unsaponifiable quantitative extract, and silver leaf extract, and the composition of the ingredients is the same as that of insadol. The unsaponifiable corn extract helps to promote the formation of gum bone and strengthens the periodontal ligament. According to Canidol clinical trial results, clinical indicators of the gingival index and bleeding index improved immediately before scaling and 4 to 8 weeks after scaling for 40 dogs who visited the hospital with periodontal disease. In June 2022, Guangdong Pharmaceutical expanded the 20 billion-strong general medicine Kyungokgo brand to pet products.

Gyeonokgo Bow, a nutritional supplement for dogs, has been approved and registered as a compound feed for animals, and in the form of pellets, the unique scent of pharmaceuticals is masked. The main ingredients include the mixed concentrate of Sukjihwang and Bokryeong, the main ingredients of Kyungokgo, as well as hydrolyzed duck, sweet potato, and red ginseng concentrate Gold CAD.

Among them, MSM, Glucosamine, and Sukjihwang can help dogs' joint and cartilage health, and ginsenosides Rg1, Rb1, and Rg3 can help immune function. Kwangdong Pharmaceutical is building a pet-friendly brand image by conducting activities such as providing pet amenities in partnership with domestic 4-star or higher hotels that allow pets. Through this business agreement, the two companies plan to develop companion animal nutrients that are effective in reducing body fat and improving skin diseases by using the Akkermansia muciniphila EB-AMDK19 strain. Akkermansia is a strain that lives in the intestinal mucosa of the body and is one of the microorganisms important for health. According to numerous domestic and foreign studies, the number of Akkermansia muciniphila is significantly lower in patients with skin diseases such as atopy, intestinal diseases, and obesity compared to normal people. In particular, Enterobiome proved that Akkermansia is also effective for pet obesity. In a study conducted with a research team at the College of Oriental Medicine at Dongguk University, the weight of beagle dogs that consumed Akkermansia decreased by 15.1% compared to non-ingested beagle dogs. In addition, non-clinical toxicity tests are underway for Akkermansia muciniphila raw materials, and based on the data, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) New Food Ingredient (NDI) and European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) new raw material (NOVEL) along with registration of food raw materials in Korea. FOOD).

In January of this year, CMG Pharmaceuticals acquired Ingmedix, a company specializing in animal nutritional supplements, and entered the companion animal nutritional supplement market. With excellent R&D technology, production capacity, and marketing know-how, we are developing and producing our own brand nutritional supplements for companion animals, and we are also conducting OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer), ODM (Original Equipment Manufacturer), and OBM (Manufacturer Brand Development and Manufacturing) businesses. It is expected that synergistic effects will emerge when the distribution network is expanded, such as combining offline channels such as veterinary hospitals owned by Ingmedix with online channels such as home shopping and open markets owned by CMG Pharmaceuticals. After laying the groundwork for entering the market as nutritional supplements for companion animals, the company plans to proceed with the development of veterinary medicines.

Donghwa is making a strategic investment of 5 billion won in Fitpet, a companion animal healthcare solution company, on the 21st of this month, and is paying attention to related industries. Through this strategic investment, Dongwha Pharm plans to research and develop animal medicines with its 126-year tradition of drug development know-how and large-scale drug manufacturing capabilities by utilizing Pipett's hundreds of thousands of companion animal healthcare databases. In addition, it has secured priority negotiation rights for the commercialization of medicines developed with this investment. Fitpet is a companion animal total healthcare solution company that has attracted more than 60 billion won in accumulated investment and is leading the market.