EDGC, Rapid Growth in Genetic Testing Performance... Accompanied by Sales Increase

[Asia Economy Reporter Ji-hwan Park] On the 25th, SK Securities evaluated EDGC as showing rapid growth in genetic testing performance, with sales also growing simultaneously.

According to SK Securities, EDGC is a bio-genome big data company possessing genome-based disease diagnosis and personalized genetic characteristic analysis technologies. Its main businesses include genome analysis and liquid biopsy diagnostics such as YouWho (YouWho, ancestry analysis) and NIPT (non-invasive prenatal testing). It was listed on the KOSDAQ market in June 2018 through a technology growth special case, and expanded its business area into in vitro diagnostic reagents and in vitro diagnostic equipment through a merger with EDGC Healthcare in September this year.

Researcher Hyukjin Yoon of SK Securities stated, "The overseas service increase of NIPT, which accounts for about 60% of EDGC's genome analysis sales and serves as a cash cow, stands out even more in the pandemic situation." When the overseas service was launched in 2018, it was limited to 3-4 countries, but this year it has expanded to about 15 countries, with sales growing more than 300% compared to the initial stage. According to Yoon, licensing-out revenue is also generated from major clients such as Thailand and Singapore.

Researcher Yoon said, "The YouWho service, newly launched in March this year as the first domestic genome company, is the culmination of personal genome big data based on 730,000 core gene information analyzed from 3 billion pairs of DNA sequences." He added, "By analyzing DNA from saliva, it provides information on 23 races, 95 ethnic groups worldwide, and paternal and maternal lineage information, and despite being a single-type service, the cumulative sales have exceeded 15,000 cases."

In December, EDGC launched the YouWho Members (DTC 54 individual analyses) Nth service targeting about 30,000 members.

In particular, EDGC plans to proceed with the approval process from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety next year for screening products that enable early diagnosis of lung, breast, and colorectal cancers at stage 1 through blood tests (cfDNA liquid biopsy) during health checkups, as well as monitoring products that observe cancer recurrence and progression. Researcher Yoon said, "Along with Grail, which was recently acquired by Illumina in the US for 9 trillion won, EDGC is attempting the world's first commercialization." He added, "In 2022, we plan to expand to the top 10 cancers including stomach, liver, and prostate cancers and proceed with additional approvals from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety."

Currently, the number of domestic and overseas genetic tests conducted by EDGC has surged from 42,967 cases in 2018 to 200,000 cases this year. As a result, based on the merger with EDGC Healthcare and high sales growth, EDGC succeeded in turning its operating profit positive on a consolidated basis in the third quarter.