Domestic pharmaceutical companies took up over half of the top 20 drugmakers that received approval for clinical trials the most this year, government data showed.

The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety said it has granted 798 regulatory nods for clinical studies from Jan. 1 to Wednesday.

Excluding those given to hospitals and contract research organizations, 11 local firms and nine multinationals were among the top 20 companies that received green lights for clinical studies the most this year.

The 11 domestic companies are Chong Kun Dang, Hanmi Pharmaceutical, Dongkoo Bio & Pharma, CJ HealthCare, Korea United Pharm, Yuhan Corp., Jeil Pharmaceutical, Add Pharma, Daewon Pharmaceutical, Daewoong Pharmaceutical, and Korea Prime Pharm.

Chong Kun Dang ranked first, obtaining 38 nods this year, followed by MSD Korea with 20, Novartis Korea with 19, Hanmi Pharm/Pfizer Korea/Janssen Korea with 14 respectively, and AstraZeneca/Roche Korea/Dongkoo Bio & Pharma with 13, respectively.

CJ HealthCare garnered 11 green lights, AbbVie Korea/Lilly Korea with 10, Korea United Pharm with nine, Yuhan with eight, Jeil/Add Pharma/Sanofi-Aventis Korea/Daewoon/Daewoong with seven respectively, and Korea Prime Pharm with six.

“Rather than merely comparing the number of clinical trials, it is more important to see whether the studies are in late stages and what kind of drugs the companies are developing through the trials,” an official at a pharmaceutical firm said. “But it is good news that clinical trials by local firms increased.”

Concerning phase-3 trials, MSD Korea had the most, winning approval for 15 tests. AstraZeneca followed with 10, and Roche Korea with nine.

Janssen/Roche Korea/Lilly Korea had eight respectively, followed by AbbVie/Pfizer Korea with seven, and Sanofi-Aventis Korea/Novartis Korea with five.

Chong Kun Dang was conducting four phase-3 studies, Daewoong/Hanmi/Daewon, two, and Dongkoo Bio & Pharm/CJ HealthCare/Korea United Pharm, one.

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