Top 10 drug firms invest over $1 bil.

Local pharmaceutical companies spent 1.02 trillion won ($968.75 billion) in 2017 on research and development, an increase of approximately 3 percent from the year before, data showed Wednesday.

Celltrion led the pack, allotting 227 billion won, equal to 23.92 percent of its sales. However, the total is down from 2016, when the company spent 264.7 billion won, or 39.47 percent of its sales. Company officials said commercialization of biosimilar products and cost differences according to the development phase of a new anti-flu drug were the reasons for the decrease.

The data were compiled by business reports of drug and bio firms who ranked among top 10 in sales. The R&D level was measured by the amount spent in proportion to company sales.