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SEOUL, South Korea, Feb. 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Daewoong Pharmaceutical (Daewoong) (CEO Sengho Jeon & Changjae Lee) recently announced its 2021 financial results with its all-time high revenue. The consolidated annual sales in 2021 was KRW 1.153 trillion rose by 9.2% y-o-y, and operating profit and net profit marked KRW 88.9 billion and KRW 31.6 billion, up 423% and 31.3% y-o-y respectively. According to separate financial statement, Daewoong delivered KRW 1.055 trillion in sales, KRW 95.5 billion in operating profit and KRW 40.5 billion in net profit.
The increase in last year's sales and record operating sales reflected KRW 1.1 trillion worth overseas technology transfer of Fexuclue tablets (ingredient name: fexuprazan hydrochloride), Daewoong's gastroesophageal reflux disease drugs which received new drug approval by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety of Korea late last year, rapid export growth of Nabota, a botulinum toxin product which had settled all legal disputes in and outside Korea and is currently marketed under the name Jeuveau in the U.S., and a stable growth of highly profitable ethical-the-counter (ETC) drugs.
Sales of ETC drugs increased to KRW 778 billion from KRW 709.4 billion a year ago, driven by a strong sales growth of highly profitable products, such as an oncology drug Luphere Depot injection and a hyperlipidemia drug Crezet tablets. Daewoong is to further accelerate its growth in ETC drugs, with the upcoming release of Fexuclue 40 mg film-coated tablets in the first half of this year.
Sales of over-the-counter (OTC) drugs marked KRW 114.4 billion, slightly up from KRW 113.3 billion in the previous year. In response to the growth of health supplements market, Daewoong has been actively expanding its businesses by promoting a liver-specialized brand Ener Thistle and launching Say Health for the hospital channels.
Sales of Nabota surged to KRW 79.6 billion from KRW 50.4 billion a year ago. Its domestic sales nearly doubled y-o-y, and overseas sales increased by more than 60 percent, centered on the U.S. in which the company's all botulinum toxin-related lawsuits and business uncertainties were resolved favorably to Daewoong. Nabota is also expected to launch in Europe and China within this year, following its record-high quarterly sales figures in the U.S. since Q2 2021.
Global sales except Nabota sharply rose to KRW 36.9 billion from KRW 14.8 billion in the previous year. Daewoong signed a series of technology export contracts on Fexuclue tablets, which received new drug approval at the end of last year. The contracts totaling KRW 1.1 trillion thereby allowed the company to secure the sales channels penetrating the global antiulcer drug market estimated about KRW 40 trillion, including the two largest markets, the U.S. and China, and Central and South America and the Middle East.
In 2021, Daewoong invested KRW 127.3 billion, which exceeds 10% of its annual sales revenue, in R&D, and created the business cycle that the R&D outcome leads the growth of sales and operating profit and assures new growth engine. The company saw business upturns and made key achievements last year; it received new drug approval of Fexuclue tablets and generated more than KRW 1 trillion profits from overseas technology transfer, and this year is expected to introduce Nabota to the world's second and third largest botulinum toxin markets, Europe and China. In China, Daewoong has already submitted a biologics license application. Furthermore, the phase-3 trial of Enavogliflozin, a sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 (SGLT-2) inhibitor for diabetes first developed by a Korean pharmaceutical company, was successfully completed earlier this year and showed a strong possibility that Daewoong will successively introduce new drug, following Fexuclue tablets.
"In 2021, we were pleased that our robust R&D investment and efforts drove major results throughout the year, improving social wellbeing with new drug and reporting all-time high revenue," said Sengho Jeon, Daewoong Pharmaceutical CEO. "We will propel new drug development and business growth simultaneously this year, in addition to introducing our excellent drugs, including Fexuclue tablets and Nabota, to Korean and overseas markets and accelerating new drug development through proactive partnership."
Daewoong also considers that the prolonged risks and disputes associated with its botulinum toxin business were completely and favorably resolved in 2021, as the criminal lawsuit filed by its competitor was cleared in Korea, and the final ruling of the U.S. International Trade Commission was invalidated, including the import ban. Daewoong sees 2022 will be another record year that it starts to bring tangible improvement in profitability.
