HektoInnovation "Subsidiary Partners with China's Sinopharm Group to Enter Chinese Health Supplement Market"

Hecto Innovation announced on the 10th that its consolidated subsidiary Hecto Healthcare is making a full-scale entry into the 15 trillion KRW Chinese probiotics market by partnering with China National Pharmaceutical Group Corporation (English name: Sinopharm Group), the largest state-owned pharmaceutical company in China.

Hecto Healthcare, a subsidiary of Hecto Innovation, signed a distribution contract worth at least 155 billion KRW over five years in China for its flagship premium probiotic product line "Dr. Simone" with Sinopharm Group’s pharmaceutical specialist company, Guoyao Yaocai (English name: Sinomedi).

Sinopharm Group is the largest pharmaceutical group in China, operating drug development, production, sales, and medical services including hospitals and pharmacies. It is also one of the world’s top 10 pharmaceutical companies with sales reaching 124 trillion KRW. Sinomedi, established as a subsidiary, is a leading Chinese pharmaceutical and health functional food company with sales of 13 trillion KRW last year.

On the 9th, a signing ceremony for the export-import contract was held at Sinomedi headquarters in Beijing, China, attended by Hecto Healthcare CEO Kim Seok-jin, Executive Director Yoo Sung-wan, Sinomedi (Guoyao Yaocai) Chairman Chen Yanlin, Guoyao Yaocai Shandong Industrial Co., Ltd. Legal Representative Ding Yuedong, and Guoyao Yaocai Healthcare Business Center CEO Wang Yanan. They agreed on the priority supply of four types of Dr. Simone products and future business cooperation.

This contract is significant as it is the first case where Sinomedi has directly engaged in export-import transactions with a Korean health functional food company. According to the contract, both parties will actively promote business in the health functional food and healthcare sectors starting with Dr. Simone. They also plan to cooperate on the additional development of products to meet local demand.

In particular, Sinopharm Group plans to distribute Dr. Simone throughout China using its own offline distribution channels, which include 54,000 pharmacies, 14,000 hospitals, 78,000 health centers and clinics, and 39 logistics centers, totaling approximately 150,000 offline distribution channels. Online channels will also be actively operated. They plan to rapidly expand distribution by utilizing all major Chinese e-commerce platforms where Sinomedi has a sales network, including the dedicated Dr. Simone cross-border flagship store, TikTok, Tmall, Taobao, and JD.com.

Kim Seok-jin, CEO of Hecto Healthcare, said, “Dr. Simone is a premium probiotic containing the highest guaranteed number of viable bacteria among Korean products and is the only product individually recognized for intestinal immunity.” He added, “By establishing a strategic partnership with China’s top state-owned pharmaceutical company, we expect to successfully take the first step into the Chinese premium health functional food market and effectively secure market leadership.” He further stated, “Leveraging our entry into the Chinese market, we plan to actively expand into overseas markets including Southeast Asian countries such as Vietnam and Japan.”