A New Turning Point in Biotechnology Innovation: Rapid Growth of Precision Medicine and Gene Therapy Market by 2025
Editor
Paradigm Shift in Biotechnology: The Convergence of AI and Gene Therapy
The biotechnology industry in 2025 is at an unprecedented inflection point. The global biotech market has surpassed $1.2 trillion, with particularly accelerated innovative advancements in the fields of precision medicine and gene therapy. According to the latest report by McKinsey & Company, biotech companies attracted a total of $48 billion in investments in the first half of 2025 alone, marking a 23% increase compared to the same period last year. The backdrop of this rapid growth is the fundamental transformation of the drug development process by artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies.
Korea’s biotech ecosystem is showing particularly noteworthy achievements. Samsung Biologics, headquartered in Seongnam, recorded sales of KRW 2.34 trillion in the third quarter of 2025, a 28% increase compared to the same period last year, maintaining its number one position in the global biopharmaceutical contract manufacturing (CMO) market. Celltrion, located in Songdo, Incheon, is also showing strong growth in the biosimilar market, with sales reaching KRW 1.82 trillion in the first half of 2025. This suggests that Korean companies are securing a competitive edge in technology and production capacity as the global biosimilar market grows at an average annual rate of 15.2%.
The pace of innovation among U.S. biotech companies is also steep. Moderna, headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is leading the development of next-generation vaccines and therapeutics based on mRNA technology. As of 2025, the company is conducting clinical trials for 15 mRNA-based therapeutics, with three products entering phase 3 trials. Particularly in the field of personalized cancer vaccines, Moderna’s technology has shown a 44% improvement in survival rates compared to existing treatments, drawing industry attention. The company’s third-quarter sales in 2025 increased by 19% year-on-year, reaching $3.4 billion.
The rapid expansion of the gene therapy market is another noteworthy trend. The global gene therapy market is currently valued at $18.6 billion in 2025 and is expected to grow at an average annual rate of 25.4% by 2030. The key driver of this growth is the significant improvement in the accuracy and efficiency of gene editing technologies, including CRISPR-Cas9. In particular, gene therapy offers the potential for fundamental treatment in areas where existing treatments were impossible, especially in the field of rare diseases. The U.S. FDA has approved a total of 23 gene therapies as of 2025, a threefold increase compared to 2020.
Global Competitive Landscape and Acceleration of Technological Innovation
The competitive landscape of the biotech industry is becoming more complex as the boundaries between traditional pharmaceutical companies and emerging biotech firms blur. Roche, headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, invested $1.2 billion in the field of personalized medicine in the first half of 2025 alone, solidifying its leading position in the companion diagnostics market, which combines cancer diagnosis and treatment. The company’s personalized medicine division recorded sales of $21 billion in 2025, accounting for 35% of its total sales.
Johnson & Johnson, headquartered in New Jersey, USA, is setting a new standard in the field of blood cancer treatment through innovative CAR-T cell therapy technology. The company’s CAR-T therapy, Carvykti, has been approved in 45 countries worldwide as of 2025, showing a 68% improvement in the five-year survival rate of multiple myeloma patients compared to existing treatments. Johnson & Johnson’s innovation medicine division recorded sales of $14.5 billion in the third quarter of 2025, a 16% increase year-on-year.
Gilead Sciences, headquartered in Foster City, California, is expanding its portfolio through active investment and acquisitions in the fields of cell and gene therapy. Particularly, through the acquisition of Kite Pharma for $11.9 billion in 2024, the company has established a strong foothold in the CAR-T cell therapy market. Gilead’s cell therapy division recorded sales of $2.8 billion in the first half of 2025, a 34% increase year-on-year. The company is currently focusing on developing next-generation CAR-T therapies targeting solid tumors, with high potential for success in this field.
The convergence of artificial intelligence and biotechnology is revolutionizing the speed and efficiency of drug development. DeepMind’s AlphaFold technology has improved the accuracy of protein structure prediction to over 90%, reducing the time required in the early stages of drug development from the traditional 5-7 years to 2-3 years. Due to such technological innovations, the research and development investment efficiency of biotech companies has significantly improved, with AI-driven drug development projects showing a 2.3 times higher success rate compared to traditional methods as of 2025.
The rapid growth of the precision medicine market is ushering in an era of personalized treatment that comprehensively considers an individual’s genetic characteristics, environmental factors, and lifestyle. The global precision medicine market is currently valued at $124 billion in 2025 and is expected to grow at an average annual rate of 12.8% by 2030. Particularly in the field of cancer treatment, the application of precision medicine is most active, with personalized treatments becoming standard care for major cancers such as breast, lung, and colorectal cancer. According to data from the U.S. National Cancer Institute (NCI), the five-year survival rate of patients receiving precision medicine-based cancer treatment improved by an average of 32% compared to existing treatments.
Another major trend in the biotech industry is the integration with digital healthcare. Real-time health data collected through wearable devices and mobile health apps are being utilized in clinical trials and treatment monitoring, making patient-centered healthcare services a reality. This digital biomarker technology is transforming the traditional hospital-centered care model into a patient-centered continuous monitoring model, showing significant effects, especially in chronic disease management. The global digital biomarker market is currently valued at $3.4 billion in 2025 and is expected to grow at an average annual rate of 23.1% by 2030.
Market Outlook and Investment Opportunities
The future outlook for the biotech industry is very bright. As the global population ages, the demand for the treatment of chronic and degenerative diseases is rapidly increasing, providing a vast market opportunity for biotech companies. Particularly, the market for treatments for neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s is currently valued at $68 billion in 2025 and is expected to grow at an average annual rate of 8.2% by 2030. In this field, companies like Biogen, Roche, and Eli Lilly are engaged in fierce competition, with recently FDA-approved drugs like Aducanumab and Lecanemab likely to change the market landscape.
The growth potential of the Korean biotech industry is also very high. According to the latest report from the Korea Biotechnology Industry Organization, the domestic biotech industry’s production value is currently KRW 18.7 trillion in 2025, a 14.2% increase year-on-year, and is expected to surpass KRW 30 trillion by 2030. Particularly, with the government’s active support and private investment centered around the K-Bio Belt project, Korea is increasingly likely to emerge as a global biotech hub. Once Samsung Biologics’ Songdo Bio Plant 4 is completed in the second half of 2025, Korea’s biopharmaceutical production capacity is expected to reach the world’s top level.
From an investment perspective, the biotech sector carries significant risk along with high growth potential. The uncertainties of drug development, long development periods, and high development costs are major risk factors. However, advancements in AI and big data technologies are gradually reducing these risks, and the potential returns upon success are very high, attracting long-term investors’ interest. Particularly, companies that have secured a leading position in innovative technology fields such as precision medicine, gene therapy, and cell therapy are highly evaluated for their growth potential.
Changes in the regulatory environment are also supporting the growth of the biotech industry. The FDA has applied expedited approval procedures to a total of 47 innovative therapies as of 2025, an 18% increase compared to the previous year. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) and Japan’s Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency (PMDA) are also simplifying approval procedures for innovative therapies, making it easier for biotech companies to enter the market. The Korean Ministry of Food and Drug Safety is also actively supporting the development and commercialization of innovative biopharmaceuticals through the Advanced Regenerative Medicine Act and the Innovative Medical Technology Act.
For the sustainable growth of the biotech industry, securing talent, technology transfer, and international cooperation are emerging as key tasks. Particularly, the lack of convergent talent who understand both AI and biotechnology is acting as a growth constraint across the industry, and industry-academia-research cooperation and international talent exchange are becoming active to address this. The future competitiveness of the biotech industry is expected to be determined not only by technological capabilities but also by the ability to build such ecosystems.
This analysis is intended for general informational purposes and does not constitute investment advice or medical recommendations. Investment decisions should be made at one’s own discretion and responsibility, and medical-related matters should be consulted with a professional.
