MediPost Achieves Record-Breaking Quarterly Performance

Increased Sales Across All Divisions Despite Seasonal Off-Season and COVID-19 4th Wave
Jeodae Blood Business Division Sees Growth in Storage Cases and Long-Term Contract Rates
Cartistem Division Achieves Record Sales Due to Increased Procedures for Severe Knee Osteoarthritis Patients

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyungsoo Park] Medipost achieved its highest quarterly performance ever despite the seasonal off-season and the fourth wave of COVID-19.

Medipost announced on the 8th that its sales in the second quarter of this year reached 13.9 billion KRW, a 17.6% increase compared to the same period last year.

Looking at the second quarter performance by business division, Celltree, the number one domestic cord blood bank, saw sales increase by 25.9% compared to the same period last year. The diversification of product offerings and the effects of non-face-to-face marketing drove the growth in performance. Despite a decrease in hospital visits by arthritis patients due to the impact of COVID-19, sales of Cartistem increased by 7.4% compared to the same period last year due to an increase in procedures for elderly patients with severe knee osteoarthritis. This marked the highest quarterly sales performance. The health functional food brand Movita also grew by 13.2% due to diversification of sales channels.

Cost of sales increased due to prior investment in GMP production facilities in preparation for the rising demand for the cartilage defect stem cell treatment Cartistem and the next-generation injectable knee osteoarthritis treatment (SMUP-IA-01). Operating loss was recorded at 370 million KRW due to increased ongoing R&D expenses for the next-generation pipeline. However, pre-tax profit of 1.6 billion KRW and net profit of 1.56 billion KRW were recorded, turning to a profit compared to the previous year due to increased financial income.

A Medipost official said, "The second quarter is traditionally an off-season due to seasonal factors, and the business environment was unfavorable due to the fourth wave of COVID-19," adding, "The key factors that made it possible to achieve the highest quarterly sales ever were market dominance and trust."

He continued, "Despite the declining birth rate, both the number of cord blood storage cases and the rate of long-term storage contracts grew in the cord blood business," and added, "The Cartistem business, which has been restricted in hospital sales activities, is expected to see gradual growth as elderly patients with severe knee osteoarthritis who had postponed procedures due to vaccine administration have started treatment."

Medipost has applied for domestic Phase 2 clinical trials of the next-generation injectable knee osteoarthritis treatment (SMUP-IA-01), developed as a disease-modifying osteoarthritis drug (DMOAD) targeting the large unmet medical needs in the osteoarthritis market. It plans to pursue a pre-IND meeting with the U.S. FDA in the fourth quarter of this year.