[Gettyimages Bank]
SEOUL -- CMG Pharmaceutical, the pharmaceutical wing of CHA biotech, which is a biopharmaceutical company with South Korea's largest pipeline of stem cell therapies, will make a foray into the country's rapidly-growing pet healthcare industry by establishing a new division dedicated to pet medicines.
South Korea's pet industry valued at 1.9 trillion won ($1.4 billion) in 2015 is rapidly growing to reach six trillion won in 2027, thanks to an increase in the number of single-person households which accounted for 31.2 percent of the country's total households of 20 million. Government data showed that about 20 percent of total households have at least one companion pet.
The growth of the pet industry gained momentum in 2020 when a coronavirus pandemic sent many people spending more time at home and getting companion dogs and cats. Some people decided to bring their pets from a nearby animal shelter. The retail wings of major companies including CJ O Shopping, a TV home shopping channel operator, saw a sharp rise in pet product sales.
CMG Pharmaceutical has established a new animal medicine business division to enter the pet healthcare market. The new division will develop animal drugs and healthcare supplements. CMG would differentiate products by using its oral dissolving film-making technique to develop easy-to-apply medicine films for pets.
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
