Dong-A Pharmaceutical's Key Affiliates Grow in Tandem in Q3... Pharma and CDMO Results Improve

Dong-A Pharmaceutical Posts Revenue of 431 Billion Won, Operating Profit of 35.1 Billion Won
Dong-A ST Operating Profit Up 27.7% on Prescription Drug Growth
ST Pharm Revenue Up 19.1%... Order Backlog Expands

Dong-A Pharmaceutical's major affiliates all continued to post growth in both revenue and operating profit in the third quarter of this year. Strong sales of over-the-counter and prescription drugs, combined with the expansion of its biopharmaceutical contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) business, improved results across the group.

Dong-A Pharmaceutical (formerly Dong-A Socio Holdings) said on October 27 that its consolidated revenue in the third quarter of this year was 431 billion won and its operating profit was 35.1 billion won. These figures were up 12.7% and 5.4%, respectively, from the same period a year earlier. For the first nine months of this year, revenue totaled 1.1944 trillion won and operating profit reached 93.2 billion won, up 12.9% and 13.9%, respectively.

A view of Dong-A Pharmaceutical's headquarters in Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul. Dong-A Pharmaceutical

Dong-A Pharmaceutical's standalone third-quarter revenue was 227 billion won, up 13.4% from the same period a year earlier. Operating profit rose 1.4% to 28.9 billion won. Revenue from its over-the-counter (OTC) business increased 27.2% to 72.6 billion won. Revenue from its Bacchus business and healthcare business, which includes health functional foods, also rose 2.5% and 2.0%, respectively.

Yongma Logis, the group's logistics affiliate, posted revenue of 121.5 billion won, up 10.8%, on increased volumes from existing clients and the addition of new customers. However, operating profit fell 57.9% to 2.7 billion won. BiTigen, the group's biopharmaceutical contract manufacturing organization (CMO) affiliate, posted revenue of 24.9 billion won, down 20.9%, as shipments of commercialized products were delayed. Its operating profit, however, rose 168.3% to 4.9 billion won.

Dong-A ST's standalone revenue in the third quarter was 206.5 billion won, up 4.1% from the same period a year earlier, and exceeded 200 billion won for the second consecutive quarter. Operating profit rose 27.7% to 21.4 billion won, supported by the efficient management of selling and administrative expenses.

Revenue from its ethical drugs (ETC) division increased 7.3% to 155.9 billion won. Its key products, including Groptropin and Motilitone, continued to grow steadily, while expanded sales of licensed products such as Zaqbo and Diphereline supported results. Revenue from the digital healthcare division also rose 403% to 2.8 billion won, driven by growth in products such as HiCardi. In contrast, overseas business revenue fell 3.9% to 39.2 billion won amid weak beverage sales, including Bacchus.

Dong-A ST is set to launch the epilepsy treatment Xcopri next month, in November. It is also continuing to develop new drugs. The company is conducting Part 3 of a global Phase 1 clinical trial of DA-1726, a candidate obesity treatment. Results after 16 weeks of dosing are expected in the fourth quarter of this year, and results after 24 weeks are expected in the first quarter of next year.

ST Pharm, the group's active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) CDMO affiliate, also continued to grow its business and improve profitability. Its consolidated revenue in the third quarter was 97.6 billion won, up 19.1% from the same period a year earlier, while operating profit rose 6.6% to 15.7 billion won. However, net profit fell 94.8% to 900 million won, affected by foreign exchange transaction losses and foreign currency translation gains and losses following the decline in exchange rates.

Revenue from its core oligonucleotide (Oligo) business was 69 billion won, up 0.6% from the same period a year earlier. Commercialized projects accounted for 49.7 billion won, or about 72%, of that total. The company secured a total of 12 new projects this year and is expanding into indications including obesity, neurological disorders, metabolic diseases, and autoimmune diseases. As of the end of September, the order backlog for its oligonucleotide business stood at about $270 million, with commercialized projects accounting for about 78%. Revenue from its small-molecule business also reached 11.6 billion won, supported by the expansion of commercialized projects.

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