KOSPIBiotech & Pharma069620

Daewoong Pharma

₩108,700▼ 0.82%2026-10-02 close

Market Cap

₩1.3T

Turnover

₩1.6B

Volume

20,000 shares

Shares out.

11.6M

PER

6.8×

PBR

1.3×

EPS

₩16,989

Dividend Yield

0.52%

PER, EPS, PBR and BPS are calculated in-house from the last 4 quarters (2025Q3–2026Q2) · Dividend yield is based on ₩600 per share · Prices as of the 2026-10-02 close

Report overview

Nabota Exports Meet a Widened Lawsuit Claim

Toxin exports and digital healthcare are lifting the profit mix, while prescription-drug volatility from a distribution overhaul and a trade-secret damages claim enlarged to about 500.1 billion won sit on the other side of the ledger.

1
Consolidated operating margin rose for four consecutive years, from 7.5% in 2022 to 8.9% in 2023, 10.4% in 2024 and 12.5% in 2025.
2
Consolidated operating profit fell sharply to 22.2 billion won in Q1 2026 before rebounding to 68.1 billion won in Q2 2026, showing wide quarterly swings.
3
According to company IR materials, botulinum toxin Nabota posted 103.4 billion won in Q2 2026 on a separate basis, its first quarter above 100 billion won, of which 94.1 billion won was exports.
4
On 31 August 2026 Medytox amended its appellate claim, raising damages sought from 50 billion won to 500 billion won, for a total of about 500.1 billion won including the claim against Daewoong.
5
A dedicated toxin plant targets start-up in 2027, with the company stating capacity will move from 5 million vials a year to a 16 million vial system.

Business structure

Founded in 1945, Daewoong Pharmaceutical is a diversified drugmaker whose core prescription (ETC) franchise in gastrointestinal, cardiovascular and endocrine therapy has been extended into over-the-counter drugs, botulinum toxin and digital healthcare.

The ETC segment, which accounts for more than half of revenue, houses in-house novel drugs including the reflux therapy Fexuclue, the type 2 diabetes drug Envlo, and the Ursa liver-support family.

Based on regulatory filings, combined 2025 sales of Ursa, Nabota and Fexuclue reached 427.5 billion won, roughly 31% of separate-basis revenue, according to June 2026 reporting.

The profitability anchor is botulinum toxin Nabota; 2025 combined domestic and overseas sales were 228.9 billion won, with exports accounting for 84%. In the United States it is sold as Jeuveau through partner Evolus and is reported to hold about 14% of the aesthetic toxin market.

The company states it has partnerships in roughly 80 countries and approvals in 69. The third pillar, digital healthcare, centers on the thynC patient-monitoring solution and also covers the ring-type blood pressure monitor CART BP and the FreeStyle Libre continuous glucose monitor.

Per company IR materials, that unit posted 15.7 billion won in Q2 2026, up 27% year on year. Domestically it competes with Medytox, Hugel and Huons BioPharma in toxins and with HK inno.N, Yuhan and Chong Kun Dang in prescription drugs, while subsidiary HanAll Biopharma handles antibody pipelines.

Earnings trend

Quarterly revenue · Operating profit

₩405.4B₩57.9B25Q2₩411.8B₩56.9B25Q3₩397.1B₩43.3B25Q4₩377.8B₩22.2B26Q1₩448.5B₩68.1B26Q2

RevenueOperating profit

Annual revenue · Operating profit

₩1.3T₩95.8B2022₩1.4T₩122.6B2023₩1.4T₩147.9B2024₩1.6T₩196.8B2025

RevenueOperating profit

Quarterly results · Last 5 quarters
Quarter	Revenue	Operating profit	Op. margin
2025Q2	₩405.4B	₩57.9B	14.3%
2025Q3	₩411.8B	₩56.9B	13.8%
2025Q4	₩397.1B	₩43.3B	10.9%
2026Q1	₩377.8B	₩22.2B	5.9%
2026Q2	₩448.5B	₩68.1B	15.2%

Annual results
Year	Revenue	Operating profit	Net income (parent)	Op. margin	ROE	Debt-to-equity
2022	₩1.3T	₩95.8B	₩42.2B	7.5%	6.9%	110.9%
2023	₩1.4T	₩122.6B	₩121.7B	8.9%	15.9%	94.1%
2024	₩1.4T	₩147.9B	₩24.7B	10.4%	3.1%	113.3%
2025	₩1.6T	₩196.8B	₩195.9B	12.5%	19.5%	108.2%

Consolidated basis (financial statements including subsidiaries) · Final figures from DART filings · Net income attributable to owners of the parent · Data as of 2026-09-04

Earnings analysis

Annual consolidated revenue rose steadily from 1,280.1 billion won in 2022 to 1,375.3 billion won in 2023, 1,422.7 billion won in 2024 and 1,570.9 billion won in 2025.

Operating profit over the same span went from 95.8 billion won to 122.6 billion, 147.9 billion and 196.8 billion won, lifting operating margin from 7.5% to 12.5% across four straight years. Net income, however, has been far less smooth.

In 2024, despite 147.9 billion won of operating profit, net profit attributable to owners was only 24.7 billion won, implying sizable non-operating charges; in 2025 owners' net profit recovered to 195.9 billion won, back near the operating line.

On a quarterly basis, Q4 2025 showed owners' net profit of 89.8 billion won against 43.3 billion won of operating profit; SK Securities, in a February 2026 report, attributed the swing to equity-method gains from a rise in the value of a digital healthcare partner's stake.

Q1 2026 brought revenue of 377.8 billion won and operating profit of just 22.2 billion won, an operating margin of 5.9%, which was attributed to weak prescription-drug sales as the company reorganized distribution around block-based regional wholesalers.

Q2 2026 then delivered revenue of 448.5 billion won and operating profit of 68.1 billion won, the highest revenue and margin (15.2%) among the five reported quarters, making the Q1 shortfall look like a single-quarter event.

Even so, Q2 2026 owners' net profit of 33.4 billion won fell well short of operating profit, underscoring that non-operating items remain volatile. On cash, operating cash flow recovered from 51.5 billion won in 2024 to 149.2 billion won in 2025, while the debt-to-equity ratio rose from 94.1% in 2023 to 108.2% in 2025.

Industry analysis

Korea's pharmaceutical industry faces structural pressure from price cuts and intensifying generic competition, making double-digit growth hard to achieve on domestic prescriptions alone.

Kiwoom Securities assessed that after 2025 price cuts, the 2026 distribution-channel overhaul makes strong core pharma growth difficult, and that further price cuts are a risk from the second half of 2026. Aesthetic toxins, by contrast, are a segment of expanding global demand where Korean exporters carry the growth.

Per the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, Korean biopharmaceutical exports hit a record 4.5 billion dollars in the first half of 2026.

Beyond its number-two share position behind AbbVie's Botox in the United States, the company said Nabota began Kuwait shipments in July 2026, bringing Middle East launches to seven countries after Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Turkey, Qatar, Egypt and Bahrain.

In Saudi Arabia it claims a 33% share and the number-two spot in its first year. That said, the toxin market features fierce domestic price and channel competition, and litigation over strains and manufacturing processes has long acted as a sector-wide discount factor.

Japan's toxin market is estimated at roughly 770 million dollars in 2026 and is regarded as a global top-five market, and Daewoong was reported in late August 2026 to have registered a Phase 3 plan aimed at formal Japanese approval.

Digital healthcare remains an early-stage market where hospital adoption pace matters and competitive positions are not yet fixed.

Outlook

Management's stated direction is expanding Nabota capacity and widening overseas approvals for its in-house drugs. The company said it is building a dedicated toxin plant targeting start-up next year, moving from 5 million vials a year to a total system of 16 million vials annually.

As of June 2026, reporting indicated the third plant was awaiting GMP approval with commercial production targeted for 2027. The company also said cumulative Nabota sales passed 1 trillion won as of 30 June 2026.

For the diabetes drug Envlo, in July 2026 it signed an export supply agreement with Acino covering eight Middle East and Africa markets including Saudi Arabia and the UAE, worth about 145.2 billion won including milestones, with sequential launches planned from the first half of 2027 starting in Saudi Arabia.

On the prescription side, both the company and industry observers pointed to the second half as the period when Fexuclue inventory adjustment effects unwind and earnings improvement continues.

The biggest pipeline event is Versiporosin for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis; the company said it will focus on global partnership and licensing-out strategies based on Phase 2 results expected in the first quarter of 2027.

However, July 2026 IR materials described a goal of releasing topline results within this year after completing Phase 2a enrollment in Korea and the United States and starting Phase 2b next year, so guidance on timing differs across materials. All such timelines are plans and may shift with regulatory and clinical outcomes.

Valuation

PER

6.8×

PBR

1.3×

ROE

20.6%

EPS

₩16,989

BPS

₩92,467

Dividend per share

₩600

The first thing to check on any earnings-based multiple here is the composition of net income. In 2024 owners' net profit shrank sharply even as operating profit grew, while in 2025 profit recovered and the denominator of the multiple expanded abruptly.

Because non-operating items such as equity-method gains contributed heavily to Q4 2025 net profit in particular, treating the latest four quarters of earnings as a proxy for future earnings has clear limits.

Against net assets the stock sits at a modest premium, so the multiple is driven less by asset value than by the market's read on how durable the profit expansion in toxin exports and digital healthcare proves to be.

The dividend yield runs below the Korean pharmaceutical sector average, consistent with a policy of directing free cash toward production facilities and research rather than payouts.

On target prices, analyst Lee Myung-sun of DB Financial Investment presented 220,000 won in a May 2026 report, analyst Kim Hyun-seok of Hyundai Motor Securities presented 200,000 won in a report the same month, and analyst Shin Min-soo of Kiwoom Securities presented 190,000 won in a report dated 13 May 2026.

PER, EPS, PBR and BPS are all calculated in-house (the same method as Naver and Toss) · Dividend yield = cash dividend per share from DART filings (supplemented by KRX) ÷ current price · As of 2026-09-04

Bull factors

Toxin Exports Reshaping the Margin Mix

Consolidated operating margin climbed for four straight years from 7.5% in 2022 to 12.5% in 2025, and reached 15.2% in Q2 2026. Per company IR materials, Nabota crossed 100 billion won in a quarter for the first time with 103.4 billion won in Q2 2026, of which exports made up 94.1 billion won, up 54.2% year on year.

Because toxin revenue is export-weighted, it is less directly exposed to domestic drug-price regulation, giving that profit stream a different character. The counterpoint is that unit prices and partner ordering cycles can widen quarter-to-quarter swings.

Capacity Expansion and New Geographies

The company said it is building a dedicated toxin plant for start-up next year, taking total capacity to 16 million vials a year on top of the existing 5 million. Utilization of biologics lines at the Hyangnam site had run well above 100% for years, so the expansion matters for easing supply constraints.

Geographic expansion is running in parallel; the company said July 2026 shipments to Kuwait brought Middle East launches to seven countries. Still, the new plant depends on GMP approval and validation, and depreciation may be recognized before volumes ramp.

Digital Healthcare as a New Growth Axis

Per company IR materials, the digital healthcare unit posted 15.7 billion won of revenue in Q2 2026, up 27% year on year. Kiwoom Securities noted in a February 2026 report that partner Seers Technology targets 30,000 hospital beds in 2026, and projected 125 billion won of annual revenue for the unit.

A mix weighted toward usage-linked contracts rather than outright hardware sales slows early revenue recognition but builds a more recurring profile over time. Kiwoom also cautioned that with usage-linked contracts at about 50% of the mix, converting this into near-term earnings will take time.

Bear factors

Damages Claim Enlarged to About 500.1 Billion Won

According to Daewoong's 2 September 2026 disclosure, Medytox filed an amended claim at the Seoul High Court on 31 August, seeking 500 billion won in damages, with the total claim reaching about 500.1 billion won including 1 billion won sought jointly from Daewoong Co.

One report noted the amount equals 44.08% of Daewoong Pharmaceutical's 2025 consolidated shareholders' equity. The company stated this is a unilateral claim rather than a determined award and has no substantive effect on its financial soundness or operations.

Since no final judgment exists, the figure cannot be read as a loss, but the appellate outcome carries both accounting implications and injunction requests covering the strain and related products.

Volatility Left by Price Cuts and Channel Reform

Q1 2026 consolidated operating profit of 22.2 billion won and a 5.9% margin were far below the preceding four quarters. Analysts commonly attributed this to the company's March shift to trading only through designated regional wholesalers, which cut wholesaler order volumes and depressed prescription-drug sales.

The Korean Pharmaceutical Association argued that mandating specific distribution routes risks entrenching a monopolistic system, and stressed that repeated supply limits or delivery disruptions could expand substitute dispensing at pharmacies. Wider substitute dispensing is a variable that can directly affect share for prescription-based products.

Fexuclue Contraction and Pipeline Dependence

Company data put Fexuclue's 2025 sales at 98.2 billion won, slipping from 102 billion won in 2024 amid price cuts and stiffer competition. Kiwoom Securities calculated Q1 2026 Fexuclue revenue at 19.2 billion won, down 29.8% year on year.

With much of the profit growth concentrated in toxins and digital healthcare, a slowdown in either pillar leaves less room to defend group margins. A Versiporosin licensing deal also depends on clinical results still to be confirmed, so nothing is settled on that front today.

Risk factors

Legal Dispute

In February 2023 the Seoul Central District Court partly upheld Medytox's claims, ordering Daewoong to pay 40 billion won plus delay interest, hand over the strain and cease its use, halt manufacture and sale of the relevant products and destroy finished and semi-finished goods; both sides appealed and provisional execution is suspended pending the appellate ruling.

Medytox contends that up to triple damages may apply to losses after 9 July 2019 and up to fivefold after 21 August 2024, though whether and how far such enhancement applies is for the court to decide.

Separately from any monetary award, if the injunction requests were granted, the impact on production and sales plans would need to be assessed on its own terms.

Policy and Regulation

Kiwoom Securities assessed that there is a risk of drug price cuts from the second half of 2026. With a high share of domestic prescription revenue, price cuts work on both the top line and margins at once.

DB Financial Investment, in a May 2026 report, analyzed the distribution overhaul as pre-emptive preparation for price cuts starting in earnest next year. The timing and depth of any measures are not yet confirmed, so the published rules and the list of affected products need to be checked.

Execution

New plant start-up, formal Japanese approval and Envlo's Middle East and Africa launches all hinge on regulatory processes. The Japanese trial is registered with a January 2027 start and December 2028 completion target, implying a long lead time.

Envlo is to launch sequentially from the first half of 2027 after Saudi approval, so any approval delay pushes back revenue recognition. Analysts have previously flagged Middle East shipments that failed to move as scheduled due to geopolitical factors, so rising regional concentration remains a separate variable.

What to watch next

17 September 2026
Reports indicate an appellate hearing is scheduled at the Seoul High Court, where the basis for the enlarged damages figure and both sides' arguments and evidence are expected to be the central issues. The bench's line of questioning and the next scheduled dates connect directly to gauging litigation risk.
October to November 2026
Third-quarter results should be checked for whether prescription-drug sales normalize after the channel overhaul, whether Nabota holds above 100 billion won a quarter, and the growth rate of the digital healthcare unit. The key question is whether the margin gap seen between Q1 and Q2 2026 repeats.
Fourth quarter of 2026
This is the window to check progress on GMP approval for the third toxin plant and readiness for commercial production starting in 2027. Once approval timing is fixed, the onset of depreciation and the scale of added supply capacity can be assessed together.
Late 2026 to Q1 2027
The company has said Versiporosin global Phase 2 results are expected in the first quarter of 2027, so topline data and progress on licensing discussions should be monitored. Both the content and the timing of the readout may shift relative to plan.
First half of 2027
This is when to check whether Envlo secures Saudi Arabian approval and begins sequential launches across eight Middle East and Africa markets. The pace at which the milestone-inclusive contract translates into recognized revenue is the point to watch.

Overall view

Daewoong Pharmaceutical's record over the past four years shows revenue and operating margin rising together.

Consolidated revenue grew from 1,280.1 billion won in 2022 to 1,570.9 billion won in 2025 while operating margin improved from 7.5% to 12.5%, and Q2 2026 delivered 448.5 billion won of revenue and 68.1 billion won of operating profit, the highest margin among the reported quarters.

Yet the collapse of Q1 2026 operating profit to 22.2 billion won illustrates how much amplitude the distribution overhaul and the drug-pricing environment can create in the prescription business.

The constructive case rests on export-weighted toxin sales and early-stage digital healthcare reshaping the profit mix, plus room for supply constraints to ease as the new plant comes online.

The cautious case centers on Fexuclue's contraction, the possibility of price cuts from the second half onward, and the trade-secret claim enlarged to about 500.1 billion won in late August 2026 alongside the accompanying injunction requests.

The fact that net income has swung widely with non-operating items such as equity-method gains is another element to weigh when judging earnings quality. This report is for informational purposes and contains no buy or sell recommendation on any security.

Sources

Korea Exchange (KRX) — Prices · Market Cap · Volume
FSS electronic disclosure system (DART) — Financial statements · Dividend filings

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Report written 2026-09-05 · Data as of 2026-09-04

This content is AI analysis of market data and web search results, provided for information only. It is not a solicitation or recommendation to invest. Investment decisions and their consequences are the investor's own responsibility. Data may be delayed or contain errors.