Kyungdong Pharmaceutical "Q3 Operating Profit Reaches 3.1 Billion KRW, Up 484% Year-on-Year"

Kyungdong Pharmaceutical has significantly improved its profitability in the third quarter through cost efficiency measures, marking its sixth consecutive quarter of operating profit.

On November 14, Kyungdong Pharmaceutical announced that its consolidated sales for the third quarter reached 48.9 billion KRW, and operating profit was 3.1 billion KRW, representing a 484% increase compared to the same period last year. Net profit for the same period also surged, reaching 4.4 billion KRW.

The substantial improvement in third-quarter profitability is the result of company-wide cost efficiency and efforts to reduce manufacturing costs. In particular, after introducing a marketing agency system, the company was able to streamline fixed costs such as labor expenses, improving its operating margin to 6.3%. Additionally, efforts to reduce manufacturing costs by improving productivity also contributed to enhanced profitability.

The company’s overall business remained stable, supported by sales of prescription drugs including circulatory system medications. In particular, chronic disease treatments with strong demand-such as the hyperlipidemia treatment “DuoRovan Tab,” the antihypertensive “Valdipin Tab,” and the diabetes treatments “Dafajin Tab” and “Dafamet Sustained Release Tab”-are continuing to show robust sales, which is expected to drive even steeper growth in the future.

A company representative stated, “Our efforts to reduce manufacturing costs and aggressively streamline our organization and expenses have been fully reflected in our third-quarter results. This is not a temporary outcome but the result of fundamental improvements in our sales and profit structure.”

He added, “Based on our stable profitability, we will boldly invest in a new factory, new headquarters, and research and development to secure sustainable growth engines.”

Meanwhile, Kyungdong Pharmaceutical plans to construct a new factory equipped with smart factory technology on its current site in Hwaseong City, with an annual production capacity of over one billion tablets. The company has also acquired land in Godeok Biz Valley, Gangdong-gu, Seoul, where it is pursuing the construction of a new headquarters to serve as an integrated research and development (R&D) center. Through the new headquarters, the company aims to consolidate its dispersed research functions, maximize R&D synergy, and expand open innovation.

Currently, Kyungdong Pharmaceutical’s major new drug pipelines under development through open innovation include an atopic dermatitis treatment (Dupigent biosimilar), an obesity and diabetes treatment (semaglutide long-acting injectable for one month), and an oral small-molecule immuno-oncology drug.

In addition to research through open innovation, the company is also seeing tangible results from its own R&D efforts, such as the successful development of the high-difficulty formulation “Nasopra Tab,” obtaining the first domestic priority sales approval for a tegoprazan generic, and approval for the new triple-combination antihypertensive “Valdipin Plus Tab (KDF1901).”