[Daily Pharm] Unprotected Drug Price Cuts Threaten Pharmaceutical Industry Sustainability...

On January 22, 2026, Daily Pharm published a detailed report on the participation of Chung Jin Hwan, an attorney at Lee & Ko, in the 55th Future Forum held under the theme “How We Should Position Ourselves in the Era of Major Drug Pricing Reform.” At the forum, Chung presented both legal and industrial analysis of the drug pricing reform proposal announced by the Ministry of Health and Welfare last November. He expressed concerns about the government’s proposal to lower the generic drug pricing benchmark from the current 53.55% to the 40% range, noting that “while the government cites Japan and France as reference cases, it remains open to question whether a horizontal comparison is appropriate given differences in industrial structure and the proportion of globally innovative drugs in those markets.” Attorney Chung further emphasized the need to carefully examine whether the proposed reduction to the 40% range is supported by a sound rationale, particularly in terms of how such a cut would contribute to promoting new drug development by domestic pharmaceutical companies.