Posco International reaps profit with Sudan biopharmaceutical biz

Posco International's pharmaceutical joint venture in Sudan reported a profit in 2022, logging sales of 30.1 billion won ($23 million), up 36 percent increase from the year earlier, the firm said Thursday.

In its earnings report, the company said General Medicines Co., the Sudanese joint venture it established with Shinpoong Pharmaceutical recorded an operating profit of 10.3 billion won, a 42 percent increase on-year.

According to Posco International, its sales were buoyed by GMC's sales of diverse medical products in Sudan, which range from antibiotics, malaria treatments, diabetes treatments and high blood pressure treatments to general medicines.

GMC currently stands in Sudan as the second largest pharmaceutical company with more than 200 employees.

Last March, GMC acquired some 43,000 square meters of land in Sudan to establish a new factory dedicated to producing general medicines.

"Through bold investment, the company plans to steadily strengthen its original competitiveness in the African pharmaceutical market, and expand its product lineup from existing treatment-oriented drugs to health supplements," said an official from Posco International.

"We will create a virtuous cycle structure in Sudan to help our company generate profits with pharmaceutical business and help future pharmaceutical industry talents grow," said Ban Yong-woo, chief financial officer of GMC.

Posco International became the first Korean trading company to enter the African market in 1978.

After Shingpoong Pharmaceuticals succeeded in synthesizing special treatment drugs suitable for treatment of parasite infections, the Posco subsidiary established a $1.05 million joint venture with Shinpoong Pharmaceutical in Sudan, where infections caused by distoma, a genus of parasitic, trematode worms, were prevalent among Sudanese people who drank contaminated water from the Nile river.

Since then, it has increased its product lineup to distribute and manufacture medicines for Sudanese people.

"GMC's aim is to become the No. 1 pharmaceutical company in Sudan within 10 years," said a Posco International official.