Daewoong eyes W148b in exports amid upbeat botulinum sales

South Korean drugmaker Daewoong Pharmaceutical said Sunday it has set a target of hitting 148.5 billion won ($110 million) in overseas exports this year amid booming sales of its drugs such as botulinum toxin.

The company's overseas exports of drugs in 2022 amounted to 134.8 billion won, an increase of more than 200 percent compared to 2020, when it logged 44.8 billion in exports, according to the firm.

The company said its growth in exports was largely attributed to the sales of Nabota, or its botulinum toxin products, in the global market.

Nabota's average annual US sales growth recorded 62 percent, from 2020 to 2022, according to Evolus, a California-based beauty company which oversees the sales of Daewoong Pharmaceutical’s Nabota in the US market. The company added the drug's market share in the US' botulinum toxin market surpassed 10 percent, as of 2022.

Nabota sales has also fared well in the South American market. Its market share for botulinum toxin in Brazil -- the largest market in South America for cosmetic procedures -- more than tripled in 2022, compared to 2021.

According to the firm, Nabota earned 77 percent of its sales overseas in 2022.

In order to further ramp up global sales, Daewoong Pharmaceutical said it is focusing on the performance of Fexuprazan, a treatment for gastroesophageal reflux diseases, and Envlo, a sodium glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitor type diabetes treatment.

"We were able to gain sales licenses of Fexuprazan in three countries including the Philippines, Ecuador and Chile within the year of the drug's launch," said an official from Daewoong Pharmaceutical.

"Currently, Fexuprazan's sales license is pending in 11 countries, including China. With such aggressive expansion of the market for Fexuprazan, we expect the drug will be recorded as one of the drugs that applied for the most sales licenses in the shortest period of time, in Korea," he said.

The company added Envlo, a diabetes treatment launched in May, is also set to be released in Brazil and Mexico in the latter half of 2023. In February, Daewoong Pharmaceutical signed a 108.2 billion won deal with biopharmaceutical platform Moksha8 Pharmaceuticals to retail its product in the two countries.

"Daewoong Pharmaceutical is making achievements in global markets, including advanced markets such as the United States and Europe, with its own new drugs. We will continue to fortify our position as a global health care group," said a Daewoong Pharmaceutical official.