KOSPIBiotech & Pharma170900

Dong-a St

₩34,850▼ 0.29%2026-10-02 close

Market Cap

₩340B

Turnover

₩100M

Volume

3,776 shares

Shares out.

9.7M

PER

41.5×

PBR

0.6×

EPS

₩890

Dividend Yield

1.89%

PER, EPS, PBR and BPS are calculated in-house from the last 4 quarters (2025Q3–2026Q2) · Dividend yield is based on ₩700 per share · Prices as of the 2026-10-02 close

Report overview

Earnings Recover on In-licensed Drugs, Pipeline Remains the Test

Dong-A ST has posted consecutive operating profits in the first half of 2026 on the back of fast-growing in-licensed drugs such as Zacuvo and Diferelin, but the company remains in a consolidated net loss position, making the emergence of tangible results from its own drug pipeline the key variable ahead.

1
2025 consolidated revenue rose 15.9% YoY to KRW 808.8 billion, but operating profit was near breakeven at about KRW 0.6 billion
2
Operating profit turned positive for two consecutive quarters in 1Q and 2Q 2026, driven by in-licensed products such as Zacuvo and Diferelin
3
The rising share of in-licensed products has pushed up the cost-of-goods ratio, meaning top-line growth has not fully translated into profitability
4
Multiple clinical catalysts—obesity candidate DA-1726, Alzheimer's candidate DA-7503, and ADC candidate DA-3501—are scheduled from the second half of 2026 onward
5
The debt ratio climbed from 67.8% in 2022 to 110.2% in 2025, reflecting rising financial leverage tied to growth investment

Business structure

Dong-A ST is a Korean pharmaceutical company centered on prescription drugs (ETC), selling both self-developed products—growth hormone Grotropin, dyspepsia treatment Motilitone, and ulcer drug Gaster—alongside in-licensed products.

In recent quarters, Zacuvo, a gastroesophageal reflux disease treatment co-promoted with Oncoic Therapeutics, and Diferelin, a precocious puberty and prostate cancer treatment from Ipsen Korea, have been driving revenue growth.

Zacuvo's first-quarter 2026 sales reached KRW 18.8 billion, up 192.2% from KRW 6.4 billion a year earlier.

The overseas business segment consists of Can Bacchus, an export version of Bacchus, the darbepoetin alfa biosimilar for anemia, and the Stelara biosimilar Imuldosa; 2025 overseas revenue rose 12.8% year-on-year to KRW 170.4 billion.

Imuldosa expanded into the United States market in August 2025 via partner Intas Pharmaceuticals and its US subsidiary Accord Biopharma, adding to its earlier European launch. The digital healthcare segment, including the HiCardi service, has seen expanding revenue.

On the R&D side, Dong-A ST is developing the obesity candidate DA-1726 and the MASH/type 2 diabetes candidate Vanoglipel (DA-1241) through affiliate MetaVia, while domestically running clinical trials for Alzheimer's candidate DA-7503 and immuno-oncology candidate DA-4505.

Through its acquisition of ADC specialist Aptis, the company is also running a Phase 1 trial for antibody-drug conjugate candidate DA-3501, and it has obtained domestic regulatory approval for the epilepsy treatment Xcopri after in-licensing Korean rights from SK Biopharmaceuticals.

Earnings trend

Quarterly revenue · Operating profit

₩194B-₩5.8B25Q2₩215.9B₩14B25Q3₩216.8B-₩2.7B25Q4₩203.6B₩7.8B26Q1₩224.7B₩6.3B26Q2

RevenueOperating profit

Annual revenue · Operating profit

₩635.4B₩16.7B2022₩664B₩11.2B2023₩697.9B-₩25B2024₩808.8B₩600M2025

RevenueOperating profit

Quarterly results · Last 5 quarters
Quarter	Revenue	Operating profit	Op. margin
2025Q2	₩194B	-₩5.8B	−3.0%
2025Q3	₩215.9B	₩14B	6.5%
2025Q4	₩216.8B	-₩2.7B	−1.3%
2026Q1	₩203.6B	₩7.8B	3.8%
2026Q2	₩224.7B	₩6.3B	2.8%

Annual results
Year	Revenue	Operating profit	Net income (parent)	Op. margin	ROE	Debt-to-equity
2022	₩635.4B	₩16.7B	₩13.6B	2.6%	2.0%	67.8%
2023	₩664B	₩11.2B	₩11.1B	1.7%	1.7%	85.0%
2024	₩697.9B	-₩25B	-₩1.2B	−3.6%	−0.2%	96.3%
2025	₩808.8B	₩600M	-₩28.6B	0.1%	−4.4%	110.2%

Consolidated basis (financial statements including subsidiaries) · Final figures from DART filings · Net income attributable to owners of the parent · Data as of 2026-08-23

Earnings analysis

Dong-A ST's consolidated revenue grew for four consecutive years, from KRW 635.4 billion in 2022 to KRW 664.0 billion in 2023, KRW 697.9 billion in 2024, and KRW 808.8 billion in 2025, with the 15.9% year-on-year increase in 2025 marking a particularly clear expansion in scale.

Operating profit, however, swung between weakness and recovery over the same period: KRW 16.67 billion (2022) → KRW 11.18 billion (2023) → a loss of KRW 25.00 billion (2024) → a near-breakeven KRW 0.62 billion (2025).

Net income attributable to owners followed a similar pattern, narrowing from a KRW 13.55 billion profit in 2022 to KRW 11.12 billion in 2023, before turning into losses of KRW 1.22 billion in 2024 and KRW 28.59 billion in 2025.

On a quarterly basis, the company hit a trough in the second quarter of 2025 with an operating loss of KRW 5.83 billion and an owners' net loss of KRW 17.72 billion, before rebounding sharply in the third quarter of 2025 to an operating profit of KRW 13.99 billion and an owners' net profit of KRW 9.24 billion—only to slip back into an operating loss of KRW 2.74 billion and an owners' net loss of KRW 11.94 billion in the fourth quarter, underscoring significant quarter-to-quarter volatility.

The pattern shifted in 2026, with two consecutive profitable quarters: an operating profit of KRW 7.76 billion and owners' net profit of KRW 8.66 billion in the first quarter, followed by an operating profit of KRW 6.29 billion and owners' net profit of KRW 2.73 billion in the second quarter.

Over the trailing four quarters (3Q 2025 through 2Q 2026), cumulative owners' net profit totaled KRW 8.69 billion, indicating a shift from a loss-making trend to profitability compared with the prior comparable window.

This improvement has been underpinned by the rapid sales growth of in-licensed products such as Zacuvo and Diferelin, but the growing share of these higher-cost products has also meant that top-line growth has not fully carried through to gross margin improvement.

On the balance sheet, the debt ratio rose from 67.8% in 2022 to 110.2% in 2025, reflecting increased leverage tied to R&D and acquisition-related investment.

Industry analysis

Korea's prescription drug market continues to face an environment where tighter government drug pricing controls and intensifying generic and biosimilar competition make it difficult to grow purely on self-developed products, prompting domestic pharmaceutical companies to increasingly rely on co-promotion agreements for in-licensed drugs.

Zacuvo, which Dong-A ST sells, is a late entrant in the P-CAB gastroesophageal reflux disease market but was reported to have recorded KRW 7.5 billion in outpatient prescriptions in May 2026, nearing the market lead.

In the global biosimilar market, the original Stelara (ustekinumab) generated USD 21.552 billion in sales as of 2024, making it a major blockbuster; three Korean companies—Celltrion, Samsung Bioepis, and Dong-A ST (with Imuldosa)—have all completed launches in the United States, forming a competitive landscape.

In the obesity treatment space, GLP-1-class drugs from global pharmaceutical majors dominate the market, while later entrants such as the dual-agonist DA-1726 from Dong-A ST and MetaVia are competing on differentiated efficacy and dosing convenience.

On the export side, the prolonged Cambodia-Thailand border conflict has negatively affected exports of products such as Can Bacchus to Southeast Asia, illustrating how regional risks can directly feed into results.

Overall, the industry is in a phase where valuation differentiation across companies is heavily driven by drug development outcomes.

Outlook

The company has posted consecutive consolidated operating profits in the first and second quarters of 2026, signaling movement away from a prolonged earnings stagnation, with in-licensed products such as Zacuvo and Diferelin expected to continue driving growth in the near term.

Zacuvo was reported to have recorded KRW 7.5 billion in outpatient prescriptions in May 2026, nearing second place in its market segment.

The domestically in-licensed epilepsy treatment Xcopri is undergoing the drug pricing determination process, with meaningful revenue contribution expected to begin once this process concludes in 2027.

For the obesity candidate DA-1726, the high-dose (48mg) cohort showed an average 9.1% weight reduction by day 54 of dosing, and a Phase 1 Part 3B (64mg cohort) trial that received IRB approval in March 2026 is ongoing.

Sequential clinical events are also planned for the Alzheimer's candidate DA-7503 and the ADC candidate DA-3501, suggesting continued R&D momentum.

Daol Investment & Securities, in a July 2026 report, assessed that the company's standalone second-quarter results showed revenue growth alongside resilient profitability and set a target price of KRW 60,000.

Nonetheless, with revenue increasingly reliant on in-licensed products, how quickly the company can translate its own drug pipeline into commercial results remains the key variable for whether the earnings recovery proves sustainable.

Valuation

PER

41.5×

PBR

0.6×

ROE

1.4%

EPS

₩890

BPS

₩67,184

Dividend per share

₩700

Dong-A ST's share price trades at a discount to its net asset value, suggesting a gap between book value and market value. On an earnings basis, however, the low profit base resulting from several years of weak performance means the multiple of price to earnings is relatively elevated.

This can be interpreted as reflecting the company's ongoing profit recovery process—from a consolidated operating loss in 2024, to near-breakeven in 2025, to profitability in the first half of 2026.

Dividends have been maintained without major change despite recent earnings weakness, though they remain relatively modest relative to the scale of profit.

Overall, the current valuation appears to reflect both market expectations and uncertainty about how far the in-licensed-product-driven earnings recovery will extend into tangible results from the company's own drug pipeline.

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 2026-08-23

Bull factors

Recovery in Both Scale and Profitability via In-licensed Products

The rapid growth of in-licensed products such as Zacuvo and Diferelin drove consolidated operating profits in both the first and second quarters of 2026.

Zacuvo was reported to have reached KRW 7.5 billion in outpatient prescriptions in May 2026, nearing second place in its market, reinforcing near-term earnings resilience. Analysts have also noted that once sales scale surpasses a certain threshold under the co-promotion structure, cost leverage effects may emerge.

Sequential Clinical Catalysts Across Metabolic and Oncology Pipelines

The obesity candidate DA-1726 showed an average 9.1% weight reduction at day 54 in its high-dose cohort, with a follow-on high-dose cohort trial now underway.

The MASH/type 2 diabetes candidate Vanoglipel has completed a global Phase 2a trial, while the Alzheimer's candidate DA-7503 and ADC candidate DA-3501 are also progressing through sequential clinical stages.

With a pipeline spanning multiple modalities advancing in parallel, discussion continues around potential re-rating tied to clinical readouts.

Global Expansion of Biosimilar and Licensed Assets

The Stelara biosimilar Imuldosa launched in the United States in August 2025 following its earlier European launch, expanding its global sales network through partners Intas and Accord Biopharma.

The epilepsy treatment Xcopri has received domestic approval and is undergoing the drug pricing determination process, which upon completion could add a new revenue stream. These in-licensed and out-licensed assets serve as a mid-term revenue diversification tool separate from the company's own drug development.

Bear factors

Questions Over Earnings Quality and Sustainability

Following a consolidated operating loss of KRW 25.00 billion in 2024, operating profit in 2025 amounted to only KRW 0.62 billion—effectively breakeven. Quarterly results also showed significant volatility, swinging back into a loss in the fourth quarter of 2025 after a profitable third quarter.

While the first two quarters of 2026 were profitable, whether this trend can be sustained requires confirmation from additional quarterly results.

Cost Structure Burden from Growing Reliance on In-licensed Products

As the share of in-licensed products has expanded, the cost-of-goods ratio has risen, meaning revenue growth has not fully translated into gross profit improvement.

Some analysts note that the declining share of proprietary products relative to growing in-licensed product exposure could weigh on the margin structure over the long term. Ultimately, without commercial success from its own new drugs, the gap between top-line growth and profitability improvement could persist.

Rising Financial Leverage and Overseas Regional Risk

The debt ratio climbed from 67.8% in 2022 to 110.2% in 2025, reflecting increased financial burden tied to R&D and acquisition-related investment. In the overseas business segment, the prolonged Cambodia-Thailand border conflict has hurt sales of products such as Can Bacchus exported to Southeast Asia.

This structure, in which external variables such as regional conflict feed directly into results, reduces the predictability of overseas revenue.

Risk factors

Clinical Failure Risk

Multiple pipeline assets—DA-1726, DA-7503, DA-4505, and DA-3501—remain in early clinical stages, and the possibility of efficacy or safety issues emerging in subsequent trials cannot be ruled out.

In particular, the obesity treatment space is already dominated by global pharmaceutical majors, placing pressure on the company as a later entrant to continuously present differentiated data. If clinical results fall short of expectations, pipeline-related expectations built up so far could be reversed.

Drug Pricing and Regulatory Risk

The epilepsy treatment Xcopri has not yet completed the domestic drug pricing determination process, leaving the timing and scale of its revenue contribution uncertain.

The domestic pharmaceutical industry remains continuously exposed to government pressure for drug price cuts, which could affect the performance of core products. In the biosimilar segment, the possibility of market entry delays due to patent or regulatory issues also persists.

Financial and External Environment Risk

The combination of a rising debt ratio and expanding R&D and acquisition-related investment could reduce financial flexibility. The overseas business is exposed to regional risks such as the Cambodia-Thailand border conflict and to currency fluctuations, increasing uncertainty in performance forecasting.

Changes to in-licensing contract terms or shifts in partnership relationships could also directly affect the revenue structure.

What to watch next

Late October to early November 2026
The third-quarter 2026 earnings release should be checked to see whether sales growth in in-licensed products like Zacuvo and Diferelin continues, how the cost-of-goods ratio trends, and whether the operating profit trend is sustained.
Fourth quarter of 2026
This is when to check whether topline data from the Phase 1 Part 3B (64mg high-dose cohort) trial for obesity candidate DA-1726 is released, and what the results show.
Within 2026
It is necessary to confirm whether topline results from the domestic Phase 1a trial for Alzheimer's candidate DA-7503 are announced.
2027
The completion of the drug pricing determination process for epilepsy treatment Xcopri and the actual scale of its revenue contribution after domestic launch should be monitored.

Overall view

Dong-A ST has entered an earnings recovery path—from a consolidated operating loss in 2024, to near-breakeven in 2025, to two consecutive profitable quarters in the first half of 2026—centered on the rapid growth of in-licensed products such as Zacuvo and Diferelin.

However, the expanding share of these in-licensed products has been accompanied by a rising cost-of-goods ratio, leaving a structural challenge in which top-line growth has not fully converted into profitability improvement.

The rise in the debt ratio from 67.8% in 2022 to 110.2% in 2025, along with regional risk in the overseas business (the Cambodia-Thailand border conflict), should also be weighed in a balanced view.

Over the medium to long term, clinical catalysts spanning multiple modalities—obesity candidate DA-1726, Alzheimer's candidate DA-7503, and ADC candidate DA-3501—are sequentially scheduled from the second half of 2026 onward, and whether these results translate into tangible value for the company's own drug business is the key point to watch.

The epilepsy treatment Xcopri is expected to begin contributing meaningfully to revenue once the drug pricing determination process concludes in 2027, remaining another variable for medium-term growth.

In sum, Dong-A ST is at a stage where short-term earnings recovery centered on in-licensed products and the longer-term emergence of results from its own drug pipeline are proceeding in parallel, and continued monitoring of both tracks through upcoming quarterly results and clinical events will be necessary.

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.