TiumBio acquires stake in SK Plasma to beef up R&D for rare diseases

South Korea-based biopharmaceutical company TiumBio is set to acquire 30 billion won ($26 million) worth of shares in SK Plasma, a blood product company under SK Group, in a move to drive research and development for rare and incurable diseases.

According to the securities industry on July 28, TiumBio is set to purchase 1 million shares, or around an 8% stake, in SK Plasma during the first week of August. 

TiumBio makes treatments for rare and incurables diseases such as developing small molecule drugs and biologics drugs. Its focus is on hemophilia treatments, which is likely to generate synergy with SK Plasma given that the company specializes in blood products.

Through the investment, TiumBio and SK Plasma plan to collaborate on new businesses and join efforts in researching and developing treatments for rare diseases.

The global pharmaceutical market has been posting steady growth due to the aging population and the rising demand to increase life expectancy. In particular, the personalized medicine market has grown rapidly driven by advanced genetic analysis and the economic development of underdeveloped countries.

Yet, there aren't many proper treatments available for rare diseases as there are fewer patients compared to the number of patients diagnosed with general diseases.

But the number of rare diseases has been increasing, with around 7,000 rare diseases identified in the US alone and around 30 million patients diagnosed with rare and incurable diseases globally.

Due to this, the US and Japan have been carrying out various support measures to develop treatments for rare diseases since they take less time to develop compared to general treatments and have high approval rates.

Write to Eun-jung Kim at kej@hankyung.com
Danbee Lee edited this article.