Daewoong, Declaration of ‘1 Item 1 Trillion Sales’… “Will Achieve by 2030”

Daewoong Pharmaceutical has come up with the ‘1 Product 1 Trillion Plan’ as its next growth strategy. It aims to increase sales of its three representative products, Nabota, Pexuclu, and Enblo, to over 1 trillion won by 2030.

According to investment industry sources such as Korea Investment & Securities and Daol Investment & Securities on the 24th, Daewoong Pharmaceutical held an R&D (research and development) meeting on the 23rd and shared its strategy for expanding new drug sales and its research and development direction. Daewoong Pharmaceutical plans to focus on increasing sales of major items by expanding indications and expanding overseas expansion based on non-clinical and clinical results.

Daewoong Pharmaceutical announced that it will strengthen the overwhelming export performance of its self-developed botulinum toxin Nabota and achieve sales of KRW 1 trillion by 2028. Nabota was the first Asian product to receive approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2019 and entered the local market through its US partner Evolus. As of last year, five years after its launch, it has grown rapidly, accounting for 12% of the US market share.

This growth is also reflected in the performance. Daewoong’s toxin sales including Nabota in the second quarter of last year were approximately KRW 46.5 billion, of which exports are expected to exceed KRW 40 billion. Daewoong plans to strengthen the sales network of Nabota, which has obtained product approval in 67 countries around the world through cooperation with Evolus.

The gastroesophageal reflux disease treatment drug ‘Pexuclu’, which is scheduled to enter the Chinese market next year, is also aiming to achieve sales of 1 trillion won by 2030. The 34th domestic new drug, Pexuclu, has shown rapid growth since its launch in July 2022, ranking second in market share for gastroesophageal reflux disease treatment drugs last year. It will be jointly sold with Chong Kun Dang starting this April, and is aiming to exceed 100 billion won in annual sales by strengthening its sales line.

Based on the positive response from the domestic market, Pexuclu is expected to obtain approval from the China National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) in the first quarter of 2025 and launch in the second half of the year. As China is the world’s largest antiulcer drug market, the plan is to steadily increase sales by advancing into the Chinese market.

Daewoong is also speeding up the expansion of Pexuclu’s indications. Currently, Pexuclu is approved in Korea as a treatment for erosive gastroesophageal reflux disease and acute and chronic gastritis gastric mucosal lesions. By 2027, the company plans to focus on securing additional indications, including prevention of ulcers caused by nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, combination therapy with antibiotics for eradication of Helicobacter pylori, treatment of gastritis, and reflux esophagitis.

The last product targeting 1 trillion won in sales is the diabetes treatment ‘Enblo’, which is also about to be launched in China. Enblo has completed phase 3 clinical trials in China for combination therapy with existing diabetes treatment ‘Metformin’. Daewoong explains that the basis for replacing existing treatments is strengthening, as evidenced by improved glucose control when Enblo was prescribed to patients who had already been prescribed AstraZeneca’s ‘Forxiga’, and thus, Chinese product approval is expected next year.

In particular, a vacuum has been created in the domestic market as AstraZeneca decided to withdraw Forxiga from the domestic market due to issues such as lowering drug prices. Daewoong plans to steadily expand the prescription target of Enblo to include diabetic patients with kidney disease and increase its market share.

“With two new drugs about to be released in China, expectations for performance growth are growing, and the strategy of targeting the best in the group is also successful,” said Woo Ki-joo, a researcher at Korea Investment & Securities. “We maintain our target stock price of 190,000 won and our buy recommendation.”