Daewoong Pharmaceutical said that its sales exceeded 1 trillion won ($845.8 million) for the first time in 2019, up 6.5 percent from the previous year.

Daewoong headquarters in Samsung-dong, southern Seoul.

The company also registered an operating profit of 31.4 billion won, up 2.2 percent, and a net profit of 20.2 billion won, a drastic 1,266 percent increase, over the cited period.

"Steady sales growth was driven by the success of our ethical drugs (ETC) and over-the-counter (OTC) medicines," the company said. "Also, the export of our botulinum toxin Nabota, known as Jeuveau in the U.S., spearheaded sales growth."

The ETC division recorded sales of 713 billion won last year, up 6.9 percent from 2018. "Licensed-in products, such as Lixiana, Forxiga, and Nexium, and other existing flagship products, including Diabex and Gasmotin, helped boost sales," the company said. "Nabota posted U.S. sales of 44.5 billion won, up 256.4 percent from 2018."

The company’s OTC division recorded sales of 111.8 billion won last year, up 21.3 percent from 2018. "Our flagship products, such as Urusa and Impactamin, showed steady sales growth," the company said. "Notably, sales of Impactamin rose 34 percent from 2018."

Such strong sales helped the company’s OTC division achieve double-digit growth for the second consecutive year, Daewoong added.

"Thanks to steady growth in the ETC and OTC sectors, and the export of Nabota to the U.S., Daewoong achieved over 1 trillion won in sales," CEO Jeon Seung-ho said.

This year, sales and profits are likely to rise further, as the company plans to sell Nabota in the European market, Jeon added.

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