[Click eStock] "Yuhan Yanghaeng, New Drug Prescriptions Expected This Year... The Company Is Changing"

[Asia Economy Reporter Ji Yeon-jin] Yuanta Securities announced on the 24th that Yuhan Corporation is expected to see performance growth this year with the continuous launch of improved new drugs, maintaining the target stock price at 76,000 KRW.

Yuhan Corporation's consolidated sales last year reached 461.4 billion KRW, a 17.2% increase compared to the same period the previous year, and operating profit recorded 27.2 billion KRW, a 218.8% increase. Although the operating profit fell short of the market forecast of 4 million KRW, Yuhan Corporation's standalone profit reached 42.8 billion KRW, marking the highest quarterly profit. It is analyzed that the consolidated operating profit was pulled down due to a 9.5 billion KRW loss caused by impairment costs for hepatitis C treatment drugs at its subsidiary Yuhan Chemical.

Sales of non-prescription drugs and household goods grew by 13.3% and 14.7% respectively, contributing to the overall sales increase, with notable growth in online and new product sales. Household goods saw increased sales of bleach and masks. Sales of prescription drugs decreased by 5.8%. Technology royalties totaled 77.7 billion KRW, including 2.2 billion KRW from Boehringer Ingelheim, 71.1 billion KRW from Janssen, 1.6 billion KRW from Gilead, 2.4 billion KRW from Processa, and 0.4 billion KRW from Yuhan Clorox. Due to an increase in research and development expense deductions, net profit for the period was 11.9 billion KRW.

This year, with the full-scale domestic prescription of Reklaza in the second half, sales of ethical drugs (ETC) are expected to grow by about 11.2%, and over-the-counter drugs (OTC) are expected to grow by 47% due to new online and probiotic product launches. Growth in household goods is expected to continue, and a return to profitability is anticipated for subsidiaries Yuhan Chemical and Addpharma. In particular, Reklaza, a lung cancer treatment drug expected to be prescribed in the second half, is currently undergoing global phase 3 clinical trials both as a monotherapy and in combination. The technology transferred to Boehringer Ingelheim includes 'GLP-1/FGF21,' which is scheduled for phase 1 clinical trials in Europe this year, and the chronic urticaria treatment YH35324, which plans phase 1 trials domestically. The immuno-oncology drug 'YH32367' is currently undergoing non-clinical toxicity testing, with domestic clinical trial approval application (IND) expected in the fourth quarter.

Seomi-hwa, an analyst at Yuanta Securities, said, "The company is changing. Through open innovation, it is expected to receive investment profits from IPOs of invested companies," adding, "This year, sales from new businesses in the microbiome sector can also be expected, and there are multiple new drug pipelines." She further explained, "In particular, the company plans to focus on CNS-related drug development in addition to the previously concentrated areas of anticancer and metabolic disease treatments," and added, "The company's value is expected to increase further with the introduction of pipelines at the commercialization clinical stage."