- REYON Pharmaceutical (representative directors Sunok Jeong and Yonghwan Yoo) announced on the 13th that it has signed a technology transfer contract for commercialization of PDRN (Poly Deoxy Ribo Nucleotide) with BNF Solution, a marine bio (raw drug materials) company.

(Mintae Kim, CEO of BNF Solutions (left), Yonghwan Yoo, Representative Director of REYON Pharmaceutical)
Through this technology transfer agreement, REYON Pharmaceutical has secured exclusive domestic and overseas rights for the manufacture and sales of ▲ PDRN prescription drugs and exclusive supply rights for ▲ PDRN raw materials for all ▲ PDRN commercialization technologies from BNF Solution. Based on this, the company plans to develop and commercialize prescription drugs as soon as possible.

PDRN is a segment of nucleotide, extracted from trout testis (semen), and has good tissue regeneration efficacy (95% similar to human DNA). In particular, as a safe tissue regeneration material that has been verified through 8 million clinical demonstrations, it is used for skin wound treatment, damaged connective tissue treatment, and corneal/conjunctival health. In addition, opinions have been raised that it can overcome the limitations of existing stem cell treatments and human placenta-derived substances, and it is attracting attention for its seemingly limitless range of uses in various fields such as pharmaceuticals and the possibility of replacing existing products.

However, the domestic PDRN market is currently experiencing unstable supply of raw materials, such as importing salmon (alternative raw materials) from overseas or relying on marine trout farming due to the problem of supply and demand for trout, which contains the original raw material. As a result, the expansion of the market is limited due to problems with securing raw materials and safety.

Established in 2013, BNF Solution is a company specializing in fisheries bio (raw drug) materials that was selected as a promising start-up by the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries in 2019. Representatively, it has the capability of mass-producing low-cost, high-efficiency raw materials and commercialization technology for PDRN materials.

 In particular, BNF Solution has secured outstanding competitiveness compared to domestic and foreign companies through long years of ceaseless research and development. Firstly, through trout genetic breeding and fertilization technology, stable supply of raw materials, improvement of production yield, and safety issues, which were the biggest problems in the conventional development of PDRN materials, have been solved. Also, the company has the ability to expand into specialized pharmaceutical raw materials, medical device raw materials, functional cosmetics, and health functional foods through customized production technology for each use.

CEO of BNF Solution Mintae Kim, said, "Through this technology transfer agreement, I am happy the research and development for PDRN, which we have conducted over many years, has finally come to fruition. Through synergy between our company, which possess competitive technologies and materials in the PDRN field, and REYON Pharmaceutical, which possesses excellent drug substance development and manufacturing/marketing capabilities, we expect to excel in both domestic and overseas markets. He added, "We expect that this will serve as the starting point for the two companies to establish themselves as leaders in the PDRN market."

Representative director of REYON Pharmaceutical, Yonghwan Yoo, said, "PDRN is a material similar to human DNA, and has excellent tissue regeneration efficacy and safety, and thus is a very promising material for its use in regenerative medicine.” He added, "As the supply and production yield problems of raw materials, which were the biggest problems in the existing market, have been resolved, we will aim to commercialize prescription drugs as soon as possible using PDRN raw materials with excellent efficacy and quality, leading to innovative pioneering and expansion of the PDRN market together with BNF Solution, and we will continue to cooperate in business in fields other than PDRN.”

He concluded by saying, "We are pleased that REYON Pharmaceutical is currently constructing a plant dedicated to virus-based manufacturing in Chungju and has concluded an MOU with Interbiome in the US, while also having in place mid- to long-term growth engines and pipelines for short-term growth,” and,  “These are expected to serve as a great foundation for the future growth of REYON Pharmaceutical.”

Meanwhile, PDRN is currently being used in various areas such as tissue regeneration, arthritis treatment, eye drops, functional cosmetics, and health functional foods, and the domestic PDRN injection market is currently estimated to be about KRW 30 billion and is expected to grow significantly in the future if the problem of stable supply of raw materials is resolved.