Published : Aug. 18, 2016 - 16:32
[
THE INVESTOR] South Korean biologics company
Medytox recorded 50 billion won (US$45.1 million) turnover in the first half this year, its best so far, according to industry sources on Aug. 18.
The company best known for Meditoxin, its own version of Botox, and Innotox, a liquid form of the botulinium toxin, sold the flagship products to the tune of 8.4 billion won in the second quarter alone, up 44 percent on-year. Another major product filler’s sales overseas hiked 132 percent to 11.2 billion won from the same period last year, showing the growing demand in South Korean medical aesthetics.
Hugel, a strong contender against Medytox, which is currently taking up to 40 percent of the botulinium toxin market share, also was boosted by exports. Its second-quarter turnover amounted to 30.9 billion won, having sold 16.9 billion won of the toxin and filler overseas, a 219 percent leap from last year.
The overseas turnover from
LG Life Science’s filler surged 175 percent to 14 billion won. “As demand for cosmetic surgery rises and hallyu continues in China, sales of filler are steadily growing,” said the company official, adding the company is expecting to see continued upturn.
The world’s non-surgical, medical aesthetics market estimated to be worth 5 trillion won is becoming the next source of growth for Korean biologic companies.
Medytox stunned the industry when Allergan, the original manufacturer of Botox, bought its technology in 2013 for US$362 million. The US pharmaceutical company recognized the value of Innotox, a liquid-type botulinium toxin that is free from possible side effects that can occur when the original powder form is not mixed in the right proportion. Before the end of this year, Allergan will submit an investigational new drug application and expects to perform clinical studies early next year.
Hugel’s Chinese partner Sihuan Pharm was granted permission to proceed to the third phase of clinical trials from China’s State Food & Drug Administration, raising the possibility of introducing Hugel’s version of the toxin in 2019.
By Hwang You-mee (
glamazon@heraldcorp.com)