Dong-A ST Reports Operating Profit of 34.8 Billion KRW Last Year, Down 39% Year-on-Year

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Ji-hee] Dong-A ST announced on the 3rd that its operating profit last year recorded 34.8 billion KRW, a 39% decrease compared to the previous year. During the same period, sales decreased by 4.2% to 586.6 billion KRW, and net profit dropped by 75.1% to 16.1 billion KRW.

Dong-A ST explained, "The 2020 performance declined compared to the previous year due to a decrease in technology export fees, a reduction in overseas exports, and the termination of contracts for some medical device items, despite strong performance in the ethical pharmaceutical (ETC) sector amid uncertain external environments such as COVID-19."

Sales in the ETC sector last year increased by 6.6% year-on-year to 340.2 billion KRW. This growth was driven by proprietary new drugs including the diabetes treatment Suganon, functional dyspepsia treatment Motilitone, gastritis treatment Stiren, peptic ulcer treatment Gaster, and human growth hormone Grotropin.

Sales in the overseas export sector amounted to 146.7 billion KRW, down 7.8% from the previous year. Although sales of the anemia treatment Dabepeotin Alpha biosimilar launched in Japan and WHO exports of tuberculosis treatments Croserin and Clopazimin were positive, exports such as Cambodia's Canbaccas declined due to the impact of COVID-19, resulting in a downward trend.

The medical device and diagnostics sector saw sales growth due to expansion in the infection control diagnostic area, but overall sales declined year-on-year due to a decrease caused by the termination of contracts for some medical device items in the fourth quarter.

Meanwhile, Dong-A ST is developing metabolic endocrine treatments DA-1241, DA-1229 (Suganon), patch-type dementia treatment DA-5207, and overactive bladder treatment DA-8010. In the long term, the company plans to expand its pipeline of immuno-oncology and dementia treatments through open innovation. In particular, this year it will focus on the global development of the psoriasis treatment biosimilar DMB-3115.

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