Ildong Pharmaceutical Group launches joint venture IDNINE, targets dermocosmetics

[Financial News] Ildong Pharmaceutical Group is entering the beauty and healthcare market, including dermocosmetics, with its microbiome technology at the forefront. Its strategy is to target the functional skincare market by combining its pharmaceutical and biotech R&D capabilities with a consumer goods company’s experience in brand management and marketing.
Ildong Pharmaceutical Group and Nine & Company announced on the 27th that they had held a launch ceremony for their joint venture, IDNINE, and would begin operations in earnest. The ceremony was held on the 26th at Nine & Company in Seongdong District, Seoul. Senior executives from both companies attended, including Shin A-jeong, an executive director at Ildong Holdings nominated to serve as IDNINE’s co-CEO, and Jeong Min-gyu, an executive director at Nine & Company who was also nominated to serve as co-CEO.
IDNINE will pursue a functional cosmetics business by combining Ildong Pharmaceutical Group’s R&D capabilities in probiotics and microbiomes with Nine & Company’s expertise in brand management and marketing. Its key ingredient is Cera-Glow, a microbiome-based probiotic cosmetic ingredient developed by Ildong Pharmaceutical Group.
Cera-Glow is a substance that helps produce ceramides, a major lipid component of the skin barrier. Ildong Pharmaceutical Group has researched its potential applications in skincare based on around 20 active metabolites produced during the fermentation of probiotic strains. It has secured two related patents and published two SCI-indexed research papers.
IDNINE plans to develop products focused on skin barrier care using Cera-Glow and to roll out a range of high-performance dermocosmetic skincare products starting next year. As demand grows for functional products backed by scientific evidence, the company aims to set itself apart through its proprietary ingredient technology.
The joint venture is an effort to extend a pharmaceutical company’s R&D assets into the consumer goods market. Its business performance, however, is expected to hinge on translating the ingredient’s technical differentiation into actual product competitiveness and securing brand recognition and distribution networks.
The two companies plan to leverage their respective R&D and business capabilities, as well as their marketing networks, to develop products and enter the market.

[email protected] Jeong Sang-hee Reporter