Retail, manufacturing giants turn to bio, healthcare as future strategy

Relying heavily on manufacturing and retail networks for growth, the South Korean conglomerate is looking to the bio and healthcare industries to secure future growth engines and expand its business areas.

Lotte Group, a major retail and confectionery company, officially announced at its shareholders’ meeting last month that its bio-healthcare business will be a new growth engine.

Lotte Holdings CEO Lee Dong-Wook said the company plans to invest directly in the bio and healthcare businesses and develop them in the medium to long term.

Lotte Holdings has invested 70 billion won ($ 57 million) to set up a healthcare company, providing comprehensive solutions across all areas of healthcare, including diagnostics and prescription, according to a report by the Korea Biotechnology Industry Organization. Establish a platform to do. Lotte Holdings is also considering options for creating synergies with other companies in its biotechnology business, the report said.

When the Hyundai Heavy Industries Group changed its name to HD Hyundai last month, it said it chose the healthcare business as one of the four major growth engines of the future.

The group announced that it will support the new business of its subsidiary White Bio, which refers to biotechnology that uses microorganisms and enzymes to manufacture industrial products and produce bioenergy.

The announcement of goal setting follows a series of moves to lay the foundation for expanding the Group’s bio and healthcare business. The group established Amcbio in December to drive the development of new drugs. In November, it announced plans to launch a 34 billion won fund to discover promising start-ups in the digital healthcare and bio industries. SK Chemical announced in a public announcement last month that it will invest more than 600 billion won in the bio-pharmaceutical business by 2025, aiming to achieve sales of more than 1 trillion won by then.

The company said it will develop new drugs through open innovation, set up a new drug search platform using artificial intelligence, protect pipelines, and enter the cell and gene therapy fields.

Shinsegae Group’s supermarket chain, E-mart, invested 10 billion won last month in a capital increase at Cobiolab, a local biotechnology company specializing in the development of microbiota.Previously, E-mart established a joint venture with a biotechnology company to develop probiotic-based dietary supplements.

Kang Hyeon (hwkan@heraldcorp.com)