Poonglim Pharmatech kneels in Japan... Syringe patent is also 'cheoltong'

Poonglim Pharmatech in Gunsan, Jeollabuk-do, which produces LDS syringes for vaccination against the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), is known to have a patent that is so dense that it cannot nod even against any external patent attack.

According to Poonglim Pharmatech and the Korean Intellectual Property Office on the 21st, Poonglim Pharmatech has registered a total of 23 syringe-related patents since 2009.?That is, about two patents were registered in one year.?An official from the Korean Intellectual Property Office explained, “The fact that small and medium-sized enterprises issue this number of patents every year means that they are focusing on technology R&D.”

Poonglim Pharmatech registered a patent related to the 'drug input control device' in April last year, when Corona 19 was spreading.?It is a technology that accurately injects the set drug dose.?The combination of this patent and existing patents is an LDS syringe for vaccination that is attracting worldwide attention.?The LDS syringe minimizes the space between the piston and the needle to reduce the amount of vaccine wasted during inoculation.?Unlike general syringes that can inject up to 5 doses per bottle of vaccine, more than 6 doses can be injected per bottle, which is equivalent to increasing vaccine production by an additional 20%.?Although Japan has the technology, it failed to build a facility capable of mass production, and eventually had to open its hands to Poonglim Pharmatech.?In fact, Japan has ordered about 80 million LDS syringes from Poonglim Pharmatech.

In addition, it holds a large number of various syringe patents.?For example, it has succeeded in developing a general syringe patent with improved safety and convenience, as well as an automatic injection device for facial wrinkles and fillers, and a special ophthalmic needle with a sterile cover.

Poonglim Pharmatech has invested in securing tangible and intangible assets such as patent development over the past four years.?Cash expenditures from accumulated investment activities over the past four years amounted to KRW 7.5 billion.?In 2019, investment in tangible and intangible assets was 2 billion won, or 6% of sales.

It is analyzed that steady R&D on syringes has led to recent achievements.

Sales from 21.6 billion won in 2017 soared to 30.1 billion won in 2019.?In two years, sales grew by 42%.?Operating profit increased by 105% to KRW 4.1 billion from KRW 2 billion during the same period.?Cash holdings also increased from 3.7 billion won to 7.3 billion won.?R&D capacity has increased.

The success of Poonglim Pharmatech in mass production of LDS was greatly helped by Samsung Electronics.?Samsung Electronics supported the establishment of a system capable of producing more than 10 million units per month by modernizing the production process through support for a win-win smart factory.

Not only Samsung Electronics, but also Samsung Bioepis and Samsung Biologics helped to apply for approval for the use of LDS syringes with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on January 18th.?Because of this, the FDA's approval quickly fell, and Poonglim Pharmatech began full-scale export negotiations with US pharmaceutical companies.

President Moon Jae-in, who recently visited the site, expressed his gratitude to Samsung Bioepis CEO Koh Han-seung, who accompanied him, saying, "Supplying LDS syringes to many countries will greatly contribute to overcoming Corona in countries around the world."?Minister of SMEs and Startups Kwon Chil-seung also said, “The mass production of LDS syringes is the crystallization of K-disinfection created by three factors: the will and effort of Korean SMEs, Samsung’s technology, and the government’s support.”