Boryung

Boryung operates around three pillars: a chronic-disease (Specialty Care) business centered on the Kanarb (fimasartan) hypertension franchise, an oncology business built on the Legacy Brands Acquisition (LBA) strategy of buying off-patent original brands, and a contract development and manufacturing (CDMO) business.

Kanarb is the company's single largest revenue contributor, accounting for 15.9% of total sales in 2025.

The oncology portfolio now spans three cytotoxic chemotherapy brands: Gemzar (gemcitabine), acquired from Eli Lilly in 2020; Alimta (pemetrexed), acquired in 2022; and Taxotere (docetaxel), acquired from Sanofi in 2025.

The Taxotere deal secured distribution, approval, manufacturing, and trademark rights across 19 countries including South Korea, China, Germany, and Spain for up to EUR 175 million (about KRW 287.8 billion), with Sanofi-reported 2024 global sales of roughly EUR 70 million (about KRW 115.4 billion).

The CDMO business is based at the Yesan Campus in South Chungcheong Province, which has annual capacity of 6 million vials, and formally launched with the first Alimta contract-manufacturing shipment in May 2026.

Beyond Kanarb, the chronic-disease lineup includes the L-family for dyslipidemia and the Tru series for diabetes. In May 2026, Boryung launched Kanarb Jet, a triple combination therapy for hypertension and dyslipidemia, to extend its product range. An over-the-counter (OTC) business also contributes to overall revenue.

Consolidated revenue in 2025 came in at KRW 1.0174 trillion, essentially flat versus 2024's KRW 1.0171 trillion, while operating profit fell to about KRW 65.1 billion from KRW 70.5 billion a year earlier, and net income attributable to owners declined to KRW 64.3 billion from KRW 69.6 billion.

The main driver of this profit decline was a provision booked in Q4 2025 following the first-instance loss in the Kanarb price-cut cancellation lawsuit. Q4 2025 operating profit actually came in at a loss of about KRW 0.65 billion, reflecting the expense recognition of that provision.

In contrast, Q1 2026 operating profit rebounded to about KRW 20.15 billion, swinging back into the black from the prior quarter's loss, while net income attributable to owners jumped to about KRW 41.4 billion.

In Q2 2026, revenue hit a quarterly record of about KRW 279.6 billion, though operating profit of about KRW 23.8 billion came in slightly below the KRW 25.4 billion posted a year earlier, reflecting higher costs from intangible asset amortization tied to the Taxotere acquisition and marketing expenses for Kanarb Jet.

As a result, net income attributable to owners over the trailing four quarters from Q3 2025 through Q2 2026 totaled about KRW 120.6 billion, a figure that blends the litigation-related provision hit and the subsequent recovery.

Annual operating margin slipped from 7.4% in 2022 and 7.9% in 2023 to 6.9% in 2024 and 6.4% in 2025, a two-year decline attributable to both the Kanarb price risk and expanded new-business investment.

Operating cash flow, however, rose steadily from about KRW 27.8 billion in 2022 to KRW 42.2 billion in 2023, KRW 80.6 billion in 2024, and KRW 133.2 billion in 2025, improving faster than reported earnings, while the debt ratio fell from 66.7% in 2023 to 48.4% in 2024 before rising again to 64.1% in 2025, partly reflecting financing tied to the Taxotere acquisition.

The domestic hypertension drug market is a mature segment with persistent generic competition, yet Kanarb family prescriptions grew 7.0% year-on-year per UBIST data, outpacing the overall hypertension market's 4.3% growth.

In the cytotoxic chemotherapy segment, the LBA strategy of acquiring entire off-patent original brands and converting them to in-house production is viewed as the key lever for cost-structure improvement.

It is considered unusual for a Korean pharmaceutical company to acquire and directly sell an entire global oncology franchise from a multinational, making Boryung's Taxotere deal a notable first case.

The CDMO market is expanding on the back of growing contract-manufacturing demand, and Boryung has structured its business to redirect manufacturing capacity gained from in-house brand conversion toward external contract volume.

On the policy side, Korea's system of automatically cutting an original drug's price once a generic is listed for reimbursement represents a shared risk for pharmaceutical companies holding original new drugs.

In terms of competitive positioning, cumulative prescriptions of Kanarb generics remain below KRW 200 million, with generic share of the overall fimasartan single-agent market at only about 0.5%, indicating that original-brand prescribing power has held up despite generic entry.

The company is progressing through country-by-country distribution contract conversions and labeling approvals for Taxotere across its 19 markets to prepare for expanded global sales, though the staggered nature of this process makes near-term revenue contribution difficult to quantify precisely.

The Yesan Campus, with annual capacity of up to 6 million vials, is expected to gradually take on in-house production and export duties as approvals are completed market by market.

The Kanarb price-cut lawsuit is now on appeal at the Seoul High Court following the first-instance loss, and with the stay of execution extended, existing drug prices remain in place until a final ruling.

In parallel, the company is countering generic competition through a product life-cycle management strategy centered on expanding its combination-therapy lineup, including Kanarb Jet.

In oncology, profitability improvement work continues on existing products, including expanded use of the liquid formulation of Alimta and formulation improvements for Gemzar.

Management has stated its intent to continue reducing reliance on Kanarb while diversifying the portfolio toward cytotoxic chemotherapy and CDMO.