Medipron "SJ Kore, Sudden Merger... Expected to Achieve Operating Profit Surplus Next Year"

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunseok Yoo] Medipron, a drug development bio company, announced on the 7th that it has decided to absorb and merge its subsidiary SJ Kore to "enhance management efficiency and maximize corporate value."

Medipron recently acquired SJ Kore, a leading company in HMR (Home Meal Replacement), to accelerate new drug development and clinical trials. The company owns 100% of SJ Kore's shares. SJ Kore, which has a solid domestic and international distribution network and well-known product competitiveness along with the rapid growth of the HMR market, has an excellent business structure. Its operating profit is expected to reach 3.5 billion KRW this year and exceed 4 billion KRW next year, reflecting a sharp increase in profitability.

A company official stated, "This merger has turned on the 'green light' for achieving profitability in 2021, and with the improved financial structure, the company can accelerate clinical trials of its drug pipeline and secure new pipelines." This overcomes the structural limitation that previously restricted bio R&D investment due to operating profit turnaround issues.

Medipron is preparing for a Phase 1 clinical trial of a non-narcotic analgesic that has received IND approval from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety. The 'QPLEX Alz plus assay' diagnostic kit, jointly developed with Quantamatrix, which is scheduled to be listed on the 9th, has also received product approval from the Ministry and is undergoing procedures for new medical technology evaluation.

The synergy between bio research personnel and the food development distribution platform is highly anticipated to enable convergence and development into the bio-food (Medi-Food) sector. Choosing the rapidly growing HMR industry in the post-COVID era, rather than existing sectors such as cosmeceuticals (hospital-use cosmetics), which are considered one axis of so-called dual management in the pharmaceutical bio industry, is also regarded as an excellent choice that grasps the trend of the times.

The domestic HMR market has shown an average annual growth rate of 17% over the past five years and is expected to rapidly grow to the 4 trillion KRW level this year. Supported by this domestic and international growth and product competitiveness, SJ Kore anticipates sales of 11 billion KRW and operating profit of 3.5 billion KRW this year.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.