"Price Soars Past 40 Million KRW"...This Company Hits 152 Billion KRW Jackpot Amid New Drug Development Surge

Surging Monkey Prices Drive Stock to Double

China's Booming Drug Development

Exposes Experimental Monkey Supply Imbalance

In China, due to a shortage of laboratory monkeys essential for preclinical trials in new drug development, the price per monkey has surged from 100,000 yuan (approximately 21.73 million KRW) to 200,000 yuan (approximately 43.46 million KRW).

According to China News Network on July 23, Joinn Laboratories, a clinical research organization (CRO) listed on the stock market that owns over 50,000 monkeys, recently recorded a net profit of more than 700 million yuan (approximately 152.054 billion KRW) thanks to the surge in monkey prices. The company's stock price also more than doubled, rising from 27 yuan (approximately 5,900 KRW) in March to a recent 55.68 yuan (around 12,000 KRW).

In China, the shortage of laboratory monkeys, essential for preclinical trials in new drug development, has caused their price to skyrocket from 100,000 yuan (approximately 21.73 million KRW) to 200,000 yuan (approximately 43.46 million KRW) per monkey. AI-generated image.

According to a report from the National Medical Products Administration of China, the number of clinical trials across China surpassed 5,000 last year, representing an 18% increase compared to the previous year. Of these, more than 70% are projects that require animal experiments using cynomolgus and rhesus monkeys as an essential part of the process.

Zhejiang Securities predicts that by 2028, the supply-demand imbalance (shortfall) for laboratory monkeys in China will reach up to 20,000 monkeys. China produces about 30,000 monkeys annually, but this is nowhere near sufficient to meet the explosive demand for new drug development within the country. The shortage of laboratory monkeys is a persistent challenge not only in China, but also in the global biotechnology market, including the United States.

The price of laboratory monkeys has continued its steep upward trend over the past five years. Even in February of this year, the price exceeded 140,000 yuan per monkey. At the time, the Hong Kong South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported that while the price per monkey was around 70,500 yuan (approximately 15.3 million KRW) in 2021, it recently increased to around 140,000 yuan (about 30.4 million KRW).

Laboratory monkeys are used in the preclinical stage of new drug development to assess drug safety as well as the processes of absorption, metabolism, and excretion in the body. Especially for antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) candidate substances, 70 to 100 monkeys are involved in safety tests. Even for general drugs considered relatively low in toxicity, it is known that 40 to 60 monkeys are used in testing.

According to data from the Center for Drug Evaluation under the National Medical Products Administration of China, in the first half of this year alone, about 1,296 new drug clinical trials were newly registered. This is a 36% increase compared to the same period last year. China News Network reported, "With the rapid advancement of cutting-edge biotech research fields such as antibodies, antibody-drug conjugates (ADC), and radiopharmaceuticals, the price surge and supply shortage of laboratory monkeys in China are expected to continue for some time."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.