Pharmaceutical firms boosted by brisk overseas sales of botox, fillers

Increasing demand of botox and fillers from overseas markets have contributed to the rapid growth of South Korean pharmaceutical companies, industry sources here said Thursday.

Medytox Inc. and Huge Inc. logged record performances in the second quarter on the back of robust overseas sales of botulinum toxin and hyaluronic acid fillers used for cosmetic purpose, they said.

Botulium toxin, more commonly known as botox, is used to fill wrinkles by temporarily relaxing facial muscles that cause lines, while fillers are used to fill up wrinkles.

Medytox said the overseas revenue from its botulium toxin and fillers products came to 19.6 billion won ($17.6 million) in the second quarter, more than twice of the domestic revenues.

Noticeably, the revenue from overseas shipments of Medytox's filler products jumped to 12.2 billion won, the company said.

Revenue from the overseas shipments of Hugel's products also increased by more than two-fold to 1.69 billion won, the company said.

"Overseas sales surpassed domestic sales on the back of the success of fillers and botulium toxin in the global market," said a Hugel official.

LG Life Sciences Ltd., the pharmaceuticals unit of South Korea's LG Group, said the overseas revenue from its filler exports jumped nearly two-fold in the second quarter. (Yonhap)