Transformation of the Pharmaceutical Industry
Economic growth at the societal and national levels began to be reflected in the increased consumption of health products starting in the 1980s.[794] In the early 1990s, the characteristics of the Korean pharmaceutical industry were as follows: first, the industry by and large was focused on producing finished products as opposed to investing in researching and developing innovative entities.
Second, the Korean pharmaceutical industry was composed of medium- and small-scaled companies, without giant, international pharmaceutical compa- nies.[795] Viewing the lack of large pharmaceutical companies as having to do with the lack of knowledge-based, innovative drugs in the global markets, the government intended to induce comparatively competitive domestic pharmaceutical companies to invest in developing biosynthetic drugs. Consequently, the government set an urgent agenda for R&D projects to facilitate the generation of patented pharmaceuticals, whether biosynthetic drugs or botanical drugs: to transform the ecology of the pharmaceutical industry. Other than those pharmaceutical companies and research institutes that were devoted to synthetic biomedical drugs, this governmental initiative also provided a timely opportunity for those who were interested in translating the knowledge of natural resources into health and pharmaceutical products. The South Korean government recognized Korean medicines (han yak or herbal medicines) as a national treasure with high potential in global markets if and when they were transformed into patented pharmaceuticals.[796] Given that Korean medicines had been popularly used among Korean citizens over thousands of years and that their scientific evidence was not established, the government took the initiative to lead research and development in the domain of Korean medicine and drugs. With the recognition of the government, heavy investment in Korean medicine ensued in order to systematize, digitize, and commercialize herbs and Korean medicines or herbal medicines. From the outset, the goal was clearly to increase the market share in the global markets by reinventing natural resources to appeal to the scientifically minded international clientele.South Korean governments sponsored the transformation of herbal medicines under the names of modernization, scientization, or globalization. In order to meet the global standards based on scientific evidence, the government looked at the utility of so-called reverse pharmacology. It refers to processes and methods to reformulate and simplify the compositions of Korean medicines in
Classification as a Technology 225 order to create new “traditional” drugs for the biomedical disorders of an international as well as Korean clientele. Reverse pharmacology is similar to reverse engineering, making use of traditional medical and pharmacological knowledge. Based on time-tested herbal formulas and clinical experiential knowledge, it identifies candidate plants and pharmacologically active components to develop new drugs. As compared with R&D processes in synthetic drugs, reverse pharmacology saves R&D costs, time, and resources.
IV.
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