Huons Accelerates Growth Leveraging COVID-19 Opportunities

Last Year’s Sales Exceeded 500 Billion KRW
Vaccine Production Technology Transfer Agreement

Yoon Sung-tae, Vice Chairman of Huons Global

[Asia Economy Reporter Seo So-jeong] Huons Group is accelerating its growth by turning the COVID-19 pandemic into an opportunity.

According to Huons Group on the 22nd, the group's sales (consolidated basis) last year reached 523 billion KRW, a 16% increase compared to 449.4 billion KRW the previous year. Huons Group operates its pharmaceutical business centered on the holding company Huons Global, with Huons and aesthetic specialist Humedics playing key roles.

In particular, the holding company Huons Global recently signed a technology transfer agreement with the Russian sovereign wealth fund (RDIF) for the production of the COVID-19 vaccine 'Sputnik V' and will begin pilot production starting in August. Huons Global plans to form a consortium including Humedics and build facilities capable of producing over 100 million doses per month.

Huons is discovering new growth engines through COVID-19. Early last year, as the domestic mask supply stabilized, the company pursued exports of personal protective equipment (PPE) such as masks and successfully signed an export contract with the Washington State government in the United States. At that time, the U.S. was facing an emergency in the supply of quarantine supplies due to the rapid spread of COVID-19 and was seeking companies capable of stable supply, leading to a contract with the group's local subsidiary Huons USA.

Through Huons USA, Huons supplied PPE worth 6 billion KRW and was later selected as the first domestic company to supply masks to U.S. government agencies, delivering approximately 8 billion KRW worth of domestically produced KF94 masks to Washington State. The export business of quarantine supplies grew into a central pillar of overseas business within a year and became a momentum for new business last year, supporting performance growth.

Humedics opened a new sales channel through overseas exports of COVID-19 diagnostic kits. They secured distribution rights for COVID-19 antibody and antigen diagnostic kits mainly used in countries with weak medical infrastructure, strengthening their overseas business.

Humedics exported COVID-19 antigen and antibody diagnostic kits to Italy, France, Colombia, and other countries. They also received emergency approval for the COVID-19 antigen diagnostic kit in Russia, and immediately after approval, shipped an initial batch of 100,000 units, with cumulative orders exceeding 1 million units within a month, showing significant results.