Korea's top patient monitoring device maker targets pet sector

South Korea’s leading patient monitoring device maker Mediana Co. is targeting the pet medical industry while seeking an artificial intelligence company for an acquisition to double its sales in the next two to three years.

Mediana, a long-time supplier of a global medical device firm Medtronic Plc, produces patient monitoring equipment that measures patients’ electrocardiograms, blood pressure, oxygen saturation, carbon dioxide concentration and other conditions in intensive care units or emergency rooms. It also makes automated external defibrillators.

Mediana is scheduled to launch monitoring devices for pets this year to embrace the fast-growing medical market for companion animals with a plan to expand product lineups for the sector, CEO Khil Moon-jong said.

The Kosdaq-listed company is also poised to introduce platforms for telediagnosis and home medical devices while ramping up competitiveness for products with AI technologies. It is looking for a company at home and abroad with differentiated AI technologies for acquisition.

“We aim to achieve sales of 100 billion won ($78 million) in the next two to three years through aggressive business expansion,” Khil said. “We will also lead the market in global health care infrastructure development.”

MONEY TO EXPAND

Khil said Mediana has enough resources for the investment, adding “we have more than 50 billion won in cashable assets with no debt at all.”

The company has strong profitability as it generated 8.3 billion won in operating profit based on sales of 56.8 billion won last year. It has been in the black for 21 years, focusing on exports that make up 80% of its total sales.

Mediana invests 6 billion won in research and development each year to foster its own technologies. That helped the company earn 65% of its total revenue from its own products.

The company expects body composition analyzers and peripherally inserted central catheters (PICCs) to lead growth in the future.

Write to Jung-Eun Kim at likesmile@hankyung.com
Jongwoo Cheon edited this article.