Somagen, Operating Profit Turned Positive in Second Half of Last Year... "Rapid Growth Over Twice Annual Sales"

[Asia Economy Reporter Jang Hyowon] U.S. bio company Somagen announced on the 16th that it succeeded in turning its overall operating profit positive in the second half of last year. With this, it has entered a full-fledged growth phase by more than doubling its annual sales within two years of its KOSDAQ listing in 2020.

According to the disclosure submitted by Somagen on the 16th, last year's annual sales reached $33.57 million (approximately 43.4 billion KRW), a 34.4% increase compared to the previous year. This is more than double the $16.11 million sales recorded in its first year of listing in 2020.

Notably, it is remarkable that the company succeeded in turning a profit in the second half despite the recent challenging external economic conditions. According to a company official, “Last year, Somagen boldly reduced costs in its management structure while steadily increasing order volumes from major U.S. clients such as Verantix, Edmera Health, Moderna, and the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH), which resulted in continuous sales growth and enabled the achievement of profitability in the second half.”

Since its establishment in 2004, Somagen has continuously increased its recognition and market share in the U.S. by providing high-quality genome sequencing service solutions to universities and related institutions across the country. Subsequently, in July 2020, it successfully entered the KOSDAQ market as the first foreign company to be listed through a technology special listing, securing a stable position in the U.S. genome sequencing service market.

Additionally, a key factor in its success is the rapid acquisition of new customer groups in the fast-growing precision medicine market, including precision medicine and healthcare specialized companies, as well as expanding its client base to pharmaceutical companies for which genome analysis is essential in the drug development process.

The outlook for Somagen in 2023 is even brighter. In November last year, it successfully completed pilot volume testing with the global big pharma company GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and secured new orders, expanding its client base in genome sequencing beyond existing major customers such as Moderna and Edmera Health.

This is expected to secure additional sales in its core genome sequencing service business. Furthermore, through its U.S. brand ‘KEAN Health,’ Somagen is expanding its Direct to Customer (DTC) services that provide at-home personal genome analysis and microbiome analysis information, thereby broadening direct communication channels with consumers in the U.S.

Somagen CEO Hong Soo said, “Based on the profitability achieved in the second half of last year, this year we aim to secure additional sales in existing profitable business areas and aggressively pioneer new business opportunities.” He added, “While our core business is growing steadily, last year our new business areas of Single Cell and Proteomics analysis services successfully established themselves in the market.”

He continued, “Therefore, this year we plan to actively expand sales in these new business areas and aim to achieve overall annual profitability. Through this, we will become the only multi-omics specialized foundry company in the U.S. that provides DNA, RNA, Proteomics, Single Cell analysis services, at-home personal genome analysis (DTCGT), and Microbiome analysis services.”