CGBIO (CEO Yu Hyeon-seung), a specialist in bio regenerative medicine, announced on the 5th that it had recorded 94.6 billion won in annual sales last year and operative profits of 16 billion won, reaching historic highs.
The company stated that its previous year’s sales and operating profits rose 32% and 47%, respectively, compared to the same period the prior year. In particular, its annual sales have grown by an average of 20% each year since 2017, reaching a maximum of five years running. This growth is driven by CGBIO’s ongoing expansion of research and development (R & R&D) investment and overseas export of competitive product groups on the global market.
As a result of procuring source technology and focusing on quality improvements through R&D investment, sales of the product CGDERM, a cell-free homologous skin grafting material, reached 15.6 billion won; sales of hyaluronic acid (HA) fillers reached 10.6 billion won; and sales of NOVISIS, a bone replacement with bone-forming protein (rhBMP-2) reached 7.3 billion won. These sales represent growth of 72%, 54%, and 172%, respectively, compared to the previous year.
Products such as BONGENER and ALLOMIX, demineralized bone matrix (DBM) bone replacements created by removing minerals from homologous bones, have also contributed to growth with sales increases of approximately 10% each.
CGBIO plans to invest over 10% of its overall sales earnings in R&D. Its R&D costs of 12.2 billion won last year represented 13% of sales, an increase of some 30% over the previous year.
In terms of exports, the hyaluronic acid filler GISELLELIGNE achieved sales of 7.5 billion won through Chinese exports, an increase of 126% compared to the prior year. This is due to discovering new customers thanks to a close partnership with China’s Shanghai Bijeong despite the COVID-19 pandemic.
This year, CGBIO plans to focus its business capabilities on its existing work in bio regenerative medicine and on new projects in cosmetic surgery. It has set a goal of 140 billion won in sales, a growth of approximately 43% year-on-year, driven by a balance of its current fields of wounds, surgery, bones, and spines and new work in aesthetics.
Sharp growth is expected in the expansion of exports of GISELLELIGNE to China and the bone replacement NOVOSIS to Indonesia in particular. In the second half of the year, the company plans to launch the new product GISELLELIGNE SIGNATURE 2, which includes lidocaine, in China. This means exports of GISELLELIGNE to China are predicted to exceed 10 billion won this year. Meanwhile, in partnership with Indonesia’s largest pharmaceutical firm Kalbe Farma, an active search for local key opinion leaders is expected to increase the user base for NOVOSIS.
Additionally, CGBIO will accelerate its new work in microneedle cosmetics.
The microneedle cosmetic DERMARIZEN is a patch-type cosmetic that releases active ingredients such as EGF protein, which has excellent collagen regeneration effects, into nearby cells, and ultra-fine needles made of biodegradable polymers penetrate the stratum corneum to go deep into the skin so the active ingredients are slowly dissolved by moisture in the body. Daewoong Therapeutics’ patented manufacturing technologies have been introduced to CGBIO’s unique regenerative material source technology to set it apart from other products. DERMARIZEN will be launched in the second half of the year.
CGBIO CEO Yu Hyeon-seung remarked, “This performance is the result of high sales and launch of globally competitive products in overseas markets, with our excellent products developed through continuous R&D investment becoming recognized even amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. This year, as we further strengthen exports with new projects such as the launch of microneedle cosmetics, will be the first in which we enter the ranks of venture companies with hundreds of billions of won in sales, making us a truly global regenerative medicine expert.”
