[Click eStock] "DoubleUSI, Medical AI Robot Business as a Mid-to-Long-Term Growth Driver"

Hana Securities evaluated that the medical artificial intelligence (AI) robot business is a mid- to long-term growth driver for DoubleWSI on the 10th. No investment opinion or target price was presented.

DoubleWSI specializes in pharmaceuticals such as blood substitutes and topical hemostatic agents, various medical consumables, and spine and joint specialized medical devices. Based on this competitiveness, it distributes medical devices such as adhesion barriers, water-soluble bone hemostatic agents, endoscopes for disc observation and removal, and cervical artificial discs through domestic general agency contracts.

Choi Jae-ho, a researcher at Hana Securities, said, "Since last year, the company has prepared an additional portfolio by entering the domestic cardiovascular interventional procedure business sector," adding, "Since June last year, through cooperation with UK-based Kimall, a specialized manufacturer of vascular opening products and medical packages, sales of central venous catheters (CVC) and peripherally inserted central catheters (PICC) have begun."

He continued, "Through a domestic general agency contract with Chinese structural heart disease medical device company Shengjian Tech, we plan to sell the Lux Valve, an interventional device for tricuspid valve replacement approved as an innovative medical device by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)," and added, "We have signed an MOU with Chinese company Lufu to expand the cardiovascular disease-related business."

Along with this, it was evaluated that the company is expanding its business from distribution to manufacturing through the acquisition of a pharmaceutical manufacturing company. DoubleWSI expanded its business area into pharmaceutical manufacturing by acquiring a 67.0% stake in ‘IntroBioPharma,’ a pharmaceutical manufacturing and development company, in May 2024, aiming to break away from the existing distribution-based business structure.

He said, "Currently, due to low production CAPA, the proportion of consignment production is relatively high compared to in-house production," and added, "We are promoting the construction of an automated new factory to secure in-house production capacity more than three times the existing CAPA."

He further explained, "After completion, productivity and efficiency improvements are expected to gradually enhance profitability," and "IntroBioPharma’s performance guidance projects sales of about 20 billion KRW in 2024 and about 29 billion KRW in 2025."

The mid- to long-term growth driver is the medical AI robot business. In 2021, the company established its subsidiary ‘EasyMediBot’ to research, develop, manufacture, and sell medical devices. It aims to commercialize ‘Ubot,’ an assist robot for obstetric and gynecological laparoscopic surgery and drug infusion.

He emphasized, "After completing prototype testing in the third quarter of this year and applying for manufacturing approval from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety in the fourth quarter, we aim to commercialize the product within the year at the earliest."