Profit Growth Driven by Nabota and Fexuprazan
Daewoong Pharmaceutical's operating profit in 2021 is estimated to have soared five times from the previous year. The profit growth was driven by increased exports of Nabota and a licensing-out deal for a treatment for gastroesophageal reflux disease.
Securities companies estimate Daewoong Pharmaceutical's operating profit for 2021 at about 82.7 billion won, up 4.9 times from 17 billion won a year earlier, according to financial information provider FnGuide.
Already, the company’s operating profit in the first three quarters of 2021 stood at about 64 billion won, much larger than the 8.3 billion won in the same period of 2020. Its sales in the Jan.-Nov. period of 2021 increased 7.8 percent from the same period a year ago. Its sales for the whole of 2021 are estimated at 1,121.5 billion won, up 6.2 percent from the previous year.
The company licensed out its technology for Fexuprazan, a new drug for gastroesophageal reflux disease, to Neurogastrx in the United States for about 480 billion won in 2021. The deal followed a 380-billion-won licensing-out contract with Shanghai Haini, a subsidiary of China's Yangtze River Pharmaceutical Group, last year. When technology exports to Mexico and Brazil in 2020 are added, Daewoong posted one trillion won in technology exports of Fexuprazan. A certain portion of the technology export income began to be reflected in the company’s business performance, boosting its profits.
Sales of Nabota, a botulinum toxin, in 2021 were estimated at about 80 billion won. Nabota's sales in 2020 were around 50 billion won. In other words, sales of Nabota grew by about 60 percent last year. This is due to a significant increase in Nabota exports to the United States. According to the Korea Customs Service, exports of botulinum toxins to the United States between January and November 2021 amounted to about 33.9 billion won, up 91.3 percent from the previous year. Nabota is the only botulinum toxin officially exported to the United States. In other words, Nabota exports to the United States alone inflated by more than 90 percent in 2021.