Hanmi Pharmaceutical and KT, one of Korea's top three telecom companies, said that they have jointly invested in digital therapeutics (DTx) developer Digital Pharm, a subsidiary of the Catholic University of Korea's holdings company.
Top managers of Hanmi Pharmaceutical, KT, and Digital Pharm hold up the investment agreement. They are, from left, Hanmi CEO Woo Jong-soo, Digital Pharm CEO Kim Dae-jin, and KT's Vice President for AI/DX Convergence Business Division Song Jae-ho.
In October, Digital Pharm, founded by Professor Kim Dae-jin at Seoul St. Mary's Hospital, an authority in DTX, aims to develop DTx to improve addiction, such as alcohol and nicotine, and enhance business competitiveness.
Under the accord, Hanmi, KT, and Digital Pharm decided to take on the areas where they can secure high competitiveness in their respective business areas, share their roles, and work together to maximize mutual synergy.
Hanmi Pharm will focus on business development, marketing, sales, and licensing capabilities it has accumulated in the traditional pharmaceutical market, centering on its "Digital Healthcare Business TF," launched last year.
Hanmi will focus on establishing Digital Pharm's B2H (business-to-hospital) strategy and pursue DTx prescription in medical institutions.
KT plans to establish Digital Pharm's B2C (business-to-consumer) and B2B (business-to-business) strategies and focus on DTx platform development. The telecom provider will also provide various technology-intensive pipelines for Digital Pharm to promote sustainable growth by securing technology.
Aided by such support, Digital Pharm will continue to discover new DTx pipelines in various disease areas and supports clinical research infrastructure essential for commercial development. After commercialization, it plans to secure its prescription capacity.
"We are delighted to be able to advance into the digital healthcare industry, which will become a key growth engine for future healthcare, together with Korea's top medical institution, university technology holding company, and ICT company," Hanmi CEO Woo Jong-soo said.
Woo added that Hanmi would do its best to build a successful business model by consolidating Hanmi's long-accumulated capabilities in new drug development, licensing, business development, and marketing.
KT Vice President for AI/DX Convergence Business Division Song Jae-ho said, "We are very happy to be able to establish a DTx company together with Hanmi Pharmaceutical and Catholic University Technology Holdings."
KT expects to create and lead the domestic DTx ecosystem by combining the capabilities of the three-party alliance to create synergy, Song added.
Digital Pharm CEO Kim noted that he expects the DTx market to expand further in the future, enabling data-based customized treatment.
"Starting with the launching ceremony, we will lead the future DTx market to satisfy users," Kim added.
Source: http://www.koreabiomed.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=13936
