Bukwang Pharmaceutical Surpasses 100 Billion Won in Half-Year Sales for the First Time Since Founding

Bukwang Pharmaceutical surpassed 100 billion won in half-yearly sales for the first time since its founding.

On July 21, Bukwang Pharmaceutical announced at its IR event that its sales for the first half of this year reached 104.8 billion won, with an operating profit of 2.5 billion won. Compared to the same period last year, sales rose by 15.9%, while operating profit dropped by 49.9%.

The growth in sales was attributed to increased sales at Bukwang Medica and the strong performance of major product lines. The decline in operating profit was caused by several independent factors: rising costs due to exchange rate increases, higher outsourcing processing fees following the establishment of an automated line, and a temporary increase in initial marketing expenses for new product launches.

A view of the headquarters of Bukwang Pharmaceutical in Dongjak-gu, Seoul. Bukwang Pharmaceutical

Among prescription pharmaceuticals, strategic products such as the diabetic neuropathy treatments Dexid (active ingredient: thioctic acid tromethamine salt) and Thioctacid (active ingredient: thioctic acid) recorded a 7% increase in out-of-hospital prescription sales year-on-year.

Prescriptions also rose for central nervous system (CNS) products. Strategic out-of-hospital prescription sales for Latuda (active ingredient: lurasidone), a treatment for schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, Zaleadip (active ingredient: zaleplon), for insomnia, and Orfil (active ingredient: sodium valproate), for epilepsy, increased by 32% from the first half of last year.

A Bukwang Pharmaceutical representative stated, "We plan to further strengthen marketing for strategic product lines going forward," adding, "We especially aim to expand our customer base for prescriptions through marketing programs celebrating the second anniversary of Latuda’s launch. We will also enhance our CNS portfolio by launching more new products."

During the IR event, the current status of pharmaceutical research and development (R&D) was also released. Bukwang Pharmaceutical first received approval for a domestic Phase 3 clinical trial plan (IND) to expand the indication of Latuda as an adjunctive therapy for major depressive disorder (MDD). The company explained that this will allow the prescription range of Latuda to be broadened and enhance the drug’s competitiveness.

In addition, Contera Pharma applied for IND approval to conduct a global Phase 2 clinical trial of ‘CP-012’, a treatment for early morning “off” episodes in Parkinson’s disease. This trial will enroll 80 adult Parkinson’s disease patients who continue to receive levodopa treatment but experience early morning OFF symptoms. The clinical trial will take place at a total of 25 major specialized medical centers across the United States, Poland, Italy, Spain, and other countries throughout Europe.

Contera Pharma also added three new platforms and tools in the first half of the year: Geneva (GENEVA), SpliceAI, and LipidLink.

A Bukwang Pharmaceutical representative commented, "We aim to secure top line results, our key data, by the first quarter of 2028, and complete the final clinical study report (Final CSR) by the first half of the same year. We expect the new platforms and tools will boost efficiency and scalability for discovering new targets and pipeline candidates."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.