KOSDAQBiotech & Pharma214370

Caregen

₩42,500▼ 1.51%2026-10-02 close

Market Cap

₩2.3T

Turnover

₩2.2B

Volume

50,000 shares

Shares out.

53.7M

PER

95.1×

PBR

10.0×

EPS

₩468

Dividend Yield

0.98%

PER, EPS, PBR and BPS are calculated in-house from the last 4 quarters (2025Q3–2026Q2) · Dividend yield is based on ₩437 per share · Prices as of the 2026-10-02 close

Report overview

Peptide Supplement Push, Swinging Margins

Caregen exports supplements and aesthetics products built on its own synthetic peptides at high margins, but a sharp 2025 profit drop and swinging quarterly margins leave the pace at which large supply contracts convert into actual revenue as the key thing to watch.

1
In 2025 consolidated revenue was 72.8 billion won with operating profit of 20.4 billion won, an operating margin of 28.0 percent, down for a second year from 51.0 percent in 2023 and 41.5 percent in 2024.
2
After a 7.07 billion won operating loss in 4Q25, 1Q26 rebounded to revenue of 22.7 billion won and operating profit of 10.2 billion won, but 2Q26 slipped again to 18.8 billion won of revenue and 5.2 billion won of operating profit.
3
Korglutide was listed as a new dietary ingredient with the US FDA in January 2026 and went on sale on Amazon immediately afterwards; ProGsterol and Myoki have also completed listings.
4
The company signed a five-year exclusive supply deal with China's Li Shizhen Pharmaceutical Group worth about 557 billion won and a four-year deal with Iraq's Filagen worth about 20 billion won; the gap between headline contract size and booked revenue is what needs checking.
5
The debt-to-equity ratio was 8.8 percent at end-2025, close to debt-free, and operating cash flow rose to 18.6 billion won from 13.5 billion won a year earlier.

Business structure

Caregen is a KOSDAQ-listed bio company that designs and synthesizes its own synthetic peptides and growth-factor proteins and takes them through to finished products.

Founded in 2001, it has focused on peptide-based research and development, and using patented peptides and skin delivery technology it develops cosmeceuticals, medical devices and functional foods that are exported to more than 130 countries.

Revenue splits broadly into professional therapy such as fillers and mesotherapy, cosmeceuticals including the Dermaheal brand, and peptide health supplements.

In 2Q25 cosmeceutical sales rose 36 percent year on year while hair filler and body filler sales each grew 5 percent, with the Dermaheal brand selling well in Europe and South America.

The supplement line centers on ProGsterol for blood sugar management, Myoki for muscle health and Korglutide for weight management, and these synthetic peptide ingredients have completed US FDA new dietary ingredient listings.

Because the company itself produces Deglusterol, the ingredient behind ProGsterol, it has a vertically integrated cost position. Sales combine exclusive supply through local distribution partners with direct-to-consumer channels such as Amazon in the United States.

Production is handled by the peptide synthesis plant in the Jeongok marine industrial complex in Hwaseong, and as of the third-quarter 2025 report capacity had been expanded 50 percent to roughly 7.69 million grams per quarter.

Competitively the company faces filler and skin-booster makers at home and abroad on one side, and global GLP-1 drugs and weight-management supplement brands on the other.

Earnings trend

Quarterly revenue · Operating profit

₩18.1B₩7.4B25Q2₩17.1B₩9.9B25Q3₩16.3B-₩7.1B25Q4₩22.7B₩10.2B26Q1₩18.8B₩5.2B26Q2

RevenueOperating profit

Annual revenue · Operating profit

₩69.1B₩33.6B2022₩79.2B₩40.4B2023₩82.6B₩34.2B2024₩72.8B₩20.4B2025

RevenueOperating profit

Quarterly results · Last 5 quarters
Quarter	Revenue	Operating profit	Op. margin
2025Q2	₩18.1B	₩7.4B	41.1%
2025Q3	₩17.1B	₩9.9B	57.7%
2025Q4	₩16.3B	-₩7.1B	−43.4%
2026Q1	₩22.7B	₩10.2B	45.0%
2026Q2	₩18.8B	₩5.2B	27.9%

Annual results
Year	Revenue	Operating profit	Net income (parent)	Op. margin	ROE	Debt-to-equity
2022	₩69.1B	₩33.6B	₩27.3B	48.7%	12.6%	8.4%
2023	₩79.2B	₩40.4B	₩39.9B	51.0%	17.6%	8.8%
2024	₩82.6B	₩34.2B	₩32.3B	41.5%	14.5%	7.9%
2025	₩72.8B	₩20.4B	₩20.1B	28.0%	9.5%	8.8%

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

On an annual basis revenue rose from 69.1 billion won in 2022 to 79.2 billion won in 2023 and 82.6 billion won in 2024, then fell to 72.8 billion won in 2025. The damage to profit was larger.

Operating profit went from 33.6 billion won in 2022 to 40.4 billion won in 2023 and 34.2 billion won in 2024, then dropped to 20.4 billion won in 2025, with the operating margin falling for two straight years from 48.7 percent to 51.0 percent, 41.5 percent and 28.0 percent.

Net profit attributable to owners also fell from 39.9 billion won in 2023 and 32.3 billion won in 2024 to 20.1 billion won in 2025.

On the 2025 revenue decline, the company cited a temporary supply adjustment for the renewal of its main filler product and a pre-emptive adjustment of ProGsterol supply to the Middle East in light of geopolitical risk, while it attributed the steeper fall in operating profit to conservative accounting for trade receivables.

The quarterly data support that.

Revenue of 18.1 billion won with operating profit of 7.4 billion won in 2Q25 and 17.1 billion won with 9.9 billion won in 3Q25 (net profit to owners of 10.2 billion won) kept margins high, but 4Q25 brought revenue of 16.3 billion won alongside a 7.07 billion won operating loss and a 3.28 billion won net loss as one-off charges clustered.

Then 1Q26 recovered to record quarterly revenue of 22.7 billion won with operating profit of 10.2 billion won and net profit of 11.7 billion won, before 2Q26 eased back to 18.8 billion won of revenue, 5.2 billion won of operating profit and 4.3 billion won of net profit, pulling the margin back into the high 20s.

First-half 2026 therefore totals about 41.5 billion won of revenue and 15.5 billion won of operating profit, and on FnGuide's tally first-half 2026 revenue rose 5.3 percent year on year while operating profit fell 12.3 percent and net profit rose 21.0 percent.

Cash flow and the balance sheet are comparatively steady: operating cash flow increased from 13.5 billion won in 2024 to 18.6 billion won in 2025, and total liabilities of 18.8 billion won against equity of 212.5 billion won left the debt-to-equity ratio at 8.8 percent.

Industry analysis

The biggest swing factor in end demand is the structural shift in the weight and metabolic management market around GLP-1. In the United States oral GLP-1 drugs have recently appeared, and the market is broadening from an injection-centered prescription business toward more convenient oral options.

Caregen chose the dietary ingredient route rather than a drug approval, which allows sales through drugstores, large retailers and online channels without a doctor's prescription. That strategy cuts development cost and time but leaves the company exposed to changes in regulatory classification.

The US FDA operates a rule barring ingredients investigated as drugs from use as food ingredients, and NMN was previously blocked from supplement sales under that provision. On the demand side China is cited as the largest potential market.

By China CDC data more than 50 percent of Chinese adults are overweight or obese, and Euromonitor put the Chinese sports nutrition market at 48 billion yuan in 2024 with expected annual growth above 15 percent.

In aesthetics, intense competition in fillers and skin boosters means product renewal cycles and brand strength drive earnings volatility.

Competitively Caregen sits as a mid-sized player that avoids head-on clinical competition with large pharma and instead differentiates in ingredients and supplement channels, so cost structure and patent defensibility matter more than scale.

Outlook

Management's stated direction for 2026 is explicit. Chief executive Jung Yong-ji said that if 2025 was a period of rebuilding the growth base, 2026 is the turning point when global revenue starts in earnest.

The specific drivers cited were revenue expansion centered on North and Latin America from the second quarter, the three supplement products Korglutide, Myoki and ProGsterol, and the start of commercialization of the Luxidase delivery platform.

On channels, the company said it activated direct-to-consumer sales on Amazon in the United States immediately after receiving FDA listing notification and has seen a fast pickup in sales since the January 30 launch.

For China, the company said initial volumes had arrived locally and cleared logistics, with sales due to begin through major online commerce channels from February.

Iraqi volumes come from the four-year exclusive supply contract worth about 20 billion won signed with Filagen in December 2025, with first shipment scheduled for June 2026.

Research spending is expanding: the company said it plans to spend about 50 billion won in 2026 on long-term Korglutide intake data, combination trials of Myoki and ProGsterol, FDA trials for the ophthalmic candidates CG-P5 and CG-T1, and development of the new CG-Hyalux delivery platform.

That said, management framed 2Q26 as a period of conservatively managing geopolitical issues to clear financial uncertainty, and pointed to deferred European revenue plus a reversal of bad-debt allowances from receivable collections in the third quarter.

Whether that account shows up in the actual third-quarter filing is the most direct item to check in the second half.

Valuation

PER

95.1×

PBR

10.0×

ROE

10.5%

EPS

₩468

BPS

₩4,469

Dividend per share

₩437

Caregen's valuation reflects a scenario of global rollout for its three supplement products more than its current earnings base.

The earnings multiple computed on the most recent four quarters of net profit sits far above what the 2023 to 2024 profit levels would imply, partly because large one-off charges in the fourth quarter of 2025 lowered the earnings base.

The shares also trade at a substantial premium to net assets, which is consistent with the general pattern in biotech where book value does not capture intangible patent assets or pipeline value.

Dividends are paid consistently, but the yield relative to the share price is on the low side, so the growth scenario rather than income sits at the center of price formation.

The company explained the increase in inventories as Korglutide and Myoki volumes awaiting shipment to large markets including the United States, Turkey, China, Brazil and Mexico, and the timing and scale at which that inventory is recognized as revenue could shift the earnings base.

Ultimately today's multiple embeds market expectations about how fast the contract backlog converts into sales, so the quarter in which that conversion is confirmed becomes the reference point for reading the multiple.

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

High margins built on in-house ingredient production

Caregen posted operating margins of 48.7 percent in 2022, 51.0 percent in 2023 and 41.5 percent in 2024, and in 1Q26 produced operating profit of 10.2 billion won on revenue of 22.7 billion won, again a margin in the high 40s.

The vertically integrated structure of producing Deglusterol, the ingredient behind ProGsterol, in-house underpins that margin. The company said its differentiated technology lets it make its own products rather than me-too versions and therefore set its own prices. As long as that cost and pricing position holds, a revenue recovery carries substantial leverage into profit.

Regulatory gates cleared and large distribution deals in hand

Korglutide was listed as a new dietary ingredient by the US FDA in January 2026, and ProGsterol and Myoki have also completed listings.

On distribution, the company signed a five-year exclusive China supply contract worth about 557 billion won with Li Shizhen Pharmaceutical Group covering three supplement products, and a 2 million dollar deposit was paid at signing and fixed as a minimum guarantee.

Management said 47 tons of the three peptides are scheduled for supply over five years and that mass production capability is already in place. Clearing both the regulatory and the channel gate at the same time is rare among Korean peptide companies.

Near debt-free balance sheet and cash generation

At end-2025 total liabilities were 18.8 billion won against equity of 212.5 billion won, leaving the debt-to-equity ratio at 8.8 percent, essentially no financial leverage, in line with 8.8 percent in 2023 and 7.9 percent in 2024.

Operating cash flow rose from 13.5 billion won in 2024 to 18.6 billion won in 2025, so cash inflow improved even in a year when operating profit fell.

The company said it will use resources including treasury shares to invest in research, a smart factory and production capacity through 2030, with about 50 billion won going into clinical work this year.

Bear factors

A repeated gap between guidance and actual sales

Supplement revenue forecasts have been cut repeatedly in the past. The company once guided to 100 billion won of annual ProGsterol revenue, then lowered it to 70 billion won and later to 40 billion won.

The reasons given for the reductions included a delayed US entry and difficulty securing a local distribution and sales partner. In the confirmed financials, 2025 revenue of 72.8 billion won was indeed below the 82.6 billion won of 2024.

For the large China and Iraq contracts as well, what matters is the actual quarterly path of recognized revenue rather than the headline contract size.

Margin volatility and one-off charges

Profit swung sharply within a single quarter, from operating profit of 9.9 billion won in 3Q25 to an operating loss of 7.07 billion won in 4Q25 alongside a 3.28 billion won net loss. The company attributed the steeper drop in operating profit than in revenue to conservative accounting for trade receivables.

In 2026 as well, operating profit halved from 10.2 billion won in the first quarter to 5.2 billion won in the second. With that amplitude in quarterly profit, a single quarter is a weak basis for judging the trend.

Geopolitical and regional concentration

With exports dominating the mix, a single regional event translates directly into a revenue gap. The 2Q25 revenue decline stemmed from disruption to ProGsterol supply as the Iran-Israel conflict temporarily constrained the supply chain.

Earlier, a change of Iranian partner led to roughly 3 billion won of previously sold ProGsterol being returned. For 2025 the company said it pre-emptively adjusted ProGsterol supply to the Middle East in view of geopolitical risk. How quickly new markets fill that gap is the key question.

Risk factors

Regulatory classification risk

The dietary ingredient route is faster than a drug approval, but a change in classification would undercut the business premise. The US FDA has a rule preventing ingredients investigated as drugs from being used as food ingredients, and NMN was previously barred from supplement sales under it.

Commentary has noted that if Korglutide's GLP-1 mechanism is judged to reach too far into drug territory, it could be forced onto a drug approval track. Because approval standards differ by country, the same risk can recur market by market.

Receivable and inventory recovery risk

When revenue recognition on shipment combines with overseas partner payment terms, the timing of collections feeds straight into profit volatility. The 7.07 billion won operating loss in 4Q25 is a case of that risk actually hitting the income statement.

The company described higher inventories as volumes awaiting shipment to large markets, but if shipment is delayed by local approvals or weak sell-through, valuation losses remain possible. Whether collections and allowance reversals actually occur must be verified in the quarterly filings.

Profit pressure from rising research spending

The plan to spend about 50 billion won on clinical work in 2026 spans long-term Korglutide intake data, combination trials, FDA trials for CG-P5 and CG-T1, and CG-Hyalux development.

That figure far exceeds 2025 operating profit of 20.4 billion won, so the operating margin could face further pressure depending on how quickly costs are recognized.

FnGuide cited investment in peptide-based drug research and expansion of the supplement portfolio as reasons for the first-half 2026 decline in operating profit. If trials fail or slip, costs remain while results are deferred, an asymmetric outcome.

What to watch next

Late October to mid-November 2026
Third-quarter 2026 results. This is the point to verify whether the full recognition of European revenue deferred from the second quarter and the reversal of bad-debt allowances from receivable collections that management flagged show up in the reported numbers, and whether the operating margin returns toward first-quarter levels.
October 2026
Phase 1 results for CG-P5, a candidate for wet age-related macular degeneration, are scheduled for oral presentation at the European retina specialists' congress in Vienna, Austria. The quality of that data sets the starting point for follow-on trials and any licensing discussions.
Fourth quarter 2026
Progress on actual shipments and revenue recognition under the Li Shizhen Pharmaceutical Group and Filagen contracts. Early sell-through data from the China deal, which schedules 47 tons of supply over five years, will indicate how contract size links to reported results.
Fourth quarter 2026 to first half 2027
Whether preparations for US Phase 2 entry for CG-P5 in wet macular degeneration and CG-T1 in dry eye disease translate into actual trial authorizations. The drug pipeline is a valuation axis separate from the supplement business.
February to March 2027
Full-year 2026 results and the dividend decision. This allows a joint check on how far the roughly 50 billion won of clinical investment weighed on the annual operating margin, and whether the receivable-related charges seen in 2025 recurred.

Overall view

Caregen carries its synthetic peptide core technology from ingredient through to finished product, a structure that once delivered operating margins above 50 percent, but in 2025 revenue of 72.8 billion won and operating profit of 20.4 billion won pulled the margin down to 28.0 percent.

Quarterly amplitude is wide: after a 7.07 billion won operating loss in 4Q25 it rebounded to 22.7 billion won of revenue and 10.2 billion won of operating profit in 1Q26, then eased to 18.8 billion won and 5.2 billion won in 2Q26.

The bullish evidence is the clearing of regulatory and channel gates, including completed US FDA new dietary ingredient listings for the three supplement products and the five-year China exclusive supply contract worth about 557 billion won, alongside a balance sheet with an 8.8 percent debt-to-equity ratio.

The bearish evidence is the track record of cuts, as ProGsterol revenue guidance moved from 100 billion won to 70 billion won and then 40 billion won, plus receivable and inventory charges and an export mix exposed to regional events such as those in the Middle East.

Valuation reflects a global supplement rollout scenario more than the current earnings base, so the speed at which contract backlog converts into quarterly revenue is the reference for reading the multiple.

The next checkpoints are therefore whether third-quarter 2026 results confirm the deferred revenue and allowance reversal, and whether early sell-through in the China and US channels appears in the numbers.

This report is for information purposes and does not contain buy or sell recommendations; investment decisions rest with the reader.

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.