Boryung Pharma's sales surpass $311 mn in H1 2023

South Korea’s Boryung Corp. has alleviated the fear of falling behind in its sector expressed by its third-generation chairman Jay Kim Jung-Gyun, who has sped up the company’s space healthcare business. 

Boryung’s management system is apparently settling down as CEO Chang Doo-hyun, a professional executive, builds internal stability step by step and Chairman Kim searches for future growth engines.

Boryung on Thursday said its first-half sales broke 400 billion won ($311.4 million) for the first time, with consolidated revenue of 420.1 billion won, up 16% year on year, and operating profit of 35 billion won, up 14%. Annual sales have grown 16% on average over the past three years.

Sales of anti-cancer drugs, considered a new growth engine in pharmaceuticals, increased 48% from the first half of last year to 106.1 billion won.

Boryung is expanding its strategy of legacy brand acquisition. It purchased in 2020 the domestic rights to the anti-cancer drug Gemzar from US pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly.

2021 saw the acquisition of Lilly’s anti-schizophrenia drug Zyprexa, followed by anti-cancer drug Alimta last year. Though the patents of the medicines have expired, Boryung’s strategy seeks to improve performance and secure cash cows by using brands that generate a certain sales level.

This plan has worked. Boryung’s presence on the domestic anti-cancer drug market surged after its product line was expanded to biosimilars and anti-cancer supplements. In the first half of this year, it sold 69.5 billion won worth of Kanarb, its medicine line to treat high blood pressure.

Sales of specialized drugs in the first half grew 20% to 348.8 billion won thanks to higher demand for respiratory treatments and antibiotics.

Boryung this year has targeted sales of 810 billion won and operating profit 61 billion won.  On a semi-annual basis, these targets are expected to be easily met.

Boryung aims for 1 trillion won in sales by 2026 through development of each business unit.

Its “great Kanarb” strategy of continuously launching new combination drugs for chronic diseases eyes 200 billion won in sales for the Kanarb line by 2026.

Write to Ji-Hyun Lee at bluesky@hankyung.com