Hanmi Pharmaceuticals invested the most in research and development among Korean drugmakers last year, according to data from the Korea Health Industry Development Institute (KHIDI).

Hanmi Pharmaceutical topped out the R&;D investment list among Korean pharmaceuticals in 2017, according to an annual KHIDI report.

The data presented in a 2017 KHIDI report showed Hanmi invested around 154.1 billion won ($145.6 million) last year, down from 191.9 billion won spent in 2016.

Following Hanmi were GC Pharma (formerly known as Green Cross) with $134.6 million, Daewoong Pharmaceuticals with $105.7 million, Dong-A Pharmaceutical with $75.5 million, Chong Kun Dang with $72.8 million, and Celltrion with $67.3 million.

Sorce: KHIDI

Hanmi is one of many pharmaceutical firms ramping up R & D investments in Korea, which has been recognized as having the fastest growing R&D investments per GDP.

According to OECD statistics, Korea spent 4.24 percent of GDP on R & D, totaling around $74.2 billion, last year. Although the total amount of investment pales in comparison to that of the U.S. ($502.8 billion), Japan ($170 billion), and Germany ($112.8 billion) , Korea ranked first regarding the growth rate of R & D investment-to-GDP spending with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.18 percent.

Private businesses accounted for the bulk of the investments, pouring $55.3 billion into R&D. The government made the second most significant investment with $17.5 billion, followed by foreign agencies with $558 million, academic institutions with $478 million, and nonprofits with $293 million.

For top R&D spending among multinational pharmaceuticals, Roche came in first with $12.7 billion invested in 2017, around a million dollar increase from the year before. Following Roche were Johnson and Johnson ($11.8 billion), Novartis ($11.7 billion), Pfizer ($10.1 billion), and Merck & Co ($8.9 billion).

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