Pharmaceutical companies gain a foothold in the pet health care market

A cat is vaccinated against rabies at a veterinary clinic in Seoul on April 10, 2017. Korea Times file

By Kim Jae-heunThe Korea Rural Economic Institute predicts that the size of the domestic market for pet products and services will reach 6 trillion won ($ 5.05 billion) by 2027. Based on this trend, new services and products related to pets are introduced every month. They include pet food, appliances, care and funeral services.

Local pharmaceutical giants like Yuhan, Daewoong Pharmaceutical and GS Pharma are launching medical products for pets. Yuhan was granted a stake in pet healthcare company Neodin BioVet on November 18. Yuhan plans to produce veterinary medicine and diagnostic kits and provide diagnostic testing services for animals.

Daewoong Pharmaceutical also acquired stakes in Daewoong Pet, which produces new animal medicines and online medical services. GS Pharma established a company specializing in medical services for pets called “Green Vet” in March and signed an agreement with KH Medical on November 3 for the research and development of diagnostic tests for companion animals.

“Millennials tend to spend a lot of money because they see pets as part of their family. The entire pet care industry here is expected to bolster them. animal medicine, surgery and diagnostic services sectors, ”an industry source said.

The pet market in Korea has shown a steady growth of 8% every year since 2014, affected by changes in demographic structure, such as improving national income levels, low birth rate and aging population. population.

The industry has experienced explosive growth since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, as people have started working from home.

According to a survey released by Statistics Korea on Tuesday, around 3.1 million households here had pets as of November 2020. However, the KB Financial Group management research institute found through a study that this figure had doubled for reach 6.04 million this year.

In addition, nearly 50% of study participants said they hope to have pets, implying that the market will continue to grow.