Local natural products move beyond the laboratory

Regional research institutes and local governments have intensified efforts to ensure that natural-product-based materials do not remain limited to research on local specialties, but are instead linked to overseas networks and carried through to commercialization and exports. Namwon has widened its pathway into the Middle East through cooperation with the UAE’s Sharjah Research, Technology and Innovation Park (SRTIP), while Jinan is seeking to expand the scope of red ginseng’s use in the European wellness and beauty market using exchanges with a Vatican monastery as a springboard.

Behind this trend is the judgment that discovering materials alone produces limited outcomes for regional industry. Joint development by the Jeonnam Bioindustry Foundation and private companies, as well as the use of industry touchpoints such as CPHI KOREA, are attempts to expand research infrastructure all the way to actual products and buyer connections, showing that regional biotech is moving from a research-centered phase to a market-linked one.

Acceleration of functional validation and new drug discovery

The value of natural products is shifting toward being explained by verifiable data rather than traditional recognition. The potential of red ginseng to relieve fatigue was reinforced by a human clinical study published in the Journal of Ginseng Research, and a candidate for improving cancer cachexia broadened the range of treatment strategies by presenting mechanisms involving gut microbiota and immune regulation through microbiome research.

At the same time, discovery methods combining AI with cell and animal models are increasing the speed of identifying candidate substances. Research on candidate materials for sarcopenia was introduced in Phytomedicine, and studies on neurological diseases using dehydrocostus lactone (DHE) have also continued, showing that natural product research is moving from empirical material exploration toward precise target-based development.

Reorganizing quality standards and resource management

As the industry expands, institutional reforms aimed at securing the authenticity of raw materials and the stability of supply have also accelerated. The National Institute of Food and Drug Safety Evaluation’s enactment of a standard procedure for establishing genetic analysis methods is a measure intended to reduce reliance on visual identification and standardize confirmation of source species, while securing propagation technology for Asarum, which has a high dependence on imports, is a case that broadens the foundation for domestic production of raw materials.

This reorganization is not limited to quality control alone. As confirmed in Jeju, where 36 damaged Magnolia obovata trees were identified, misidentification of medicinal materials and indiscriminate harvesting can simultaneously lead to ecological damage and the use of incorrect raw materials, highlighting the challenge that industrial growth and resource conservation must be designed together going forward.

Changing consumer channels and price pressure

At the point of sale, accessibility and price are becoming bigger variables than a product’s meaning. The case of red ginseng products being sold for 2,000 won at a household goods store shows that health functional foods are shifting from gift-oriented, high-priced products to everyday consumer goods, while for items such as Yongpyo Woohwangcheongsimwon, once a common household standby medicine, consumer habits are changing from keeping them regularly stocked at home to purchasing them only when needed because of the price burden.

This change also directly affects corporate strategy. While companies that lower prices through automation, bulk purchasing, and diversified distribution gain entry opportunities, it is becoming harder to sustain demand through traditional imagery or brand recognition alone, meaning the natural products and traditional medicine market has ultimately entered a competitive phase in which proof of efficacy, price design, and distribution accessibility must all be aligned.