“Korea is narrow”… Three Botox companies accelerating overseas expansion

The global aesthetic medical market is reviving again as the masks that covered people’s faces are removed due to the pandemic. The botulinum toxin market, which had stagnated due to the pandemic, is also growing rapidly. Accordingly, domestic botulinum toxin manufacturers are working hard to expand their scope to capture not only domestic demand but also overseas sales.

According to the industry on the 10th, Botox sales of the three domestic toxin companies (Daewoong Pharmaceutical, Hugel, and Medytox) in the first half of last year recorded record-breaking results. Daewoong Pharmaceutical recorded KRW 75.3 billion in sales from toxin products alone in the first half of the year, while Hugel and Medytox also recorded KRW 74.4 billion and KRW 44.5 billion, respectively, showing that toxins are driving overall sales.

The industry plans to accelerate overseas expansion based on its solid growth trend. The domestic toxin market size is only 160 billion won this year, but the overall global market size is close to 10 trillion won in the same year. An official in the toxin industry explained, “In Korea, a toxin treatment usually costs around 100,000 won, but overseas it can go as high as 600,000 won or more. Since the unit price is different, entering the overseas market is not an option but a necessity.”

Accordingly, Daewoong Pharmaceutical recently began targeting new markets for its toxin product ‘Nabota’. Daewoong Pharmaceutical recently decided to join hands with Malaysia’s ‘Hyphens Pharma’ to proceed with local distribution and sales. According to global market research firm Insight Partners, the Malaysian toxin market is expected to grow at an average annual growth rate of 15.6% until 2028.

Through this market entry, Daewoong Pharmaceutical has made a bid to enter the Muslim aesthetic medicine market, which has a population of 2 billion people. A Daewoong Pharmaceutical official said, “We will successfully settle in Malaysia and develop Nabota into the world’s No. 1 toxin. Currently, Nabota has obtained approval in 66 countries around the world, including the United States and Europe, and is planning to launch in Australia in 2024.” “China is also undergoing the approval process,” he said.

Hugel is attempting again to enter the United States, the world’s largest메이저놀이터 market. Recently, Hugel re-applied to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration ( FDA ) for product approval for its toxin product ‘Botulex’, using the indication for wrinkles between the eyebrows. Hugel applied for Botulex approval to the FDA in March 2021, but the approval process was put on hold when it received a supplementary request from the FDA in March last year. After supplementing the data, a second permit was applied for last October, but the permit was postponed once again as supplementation requests were received once again in the factory management area.

A Hugel official said, “We have completed supplementary work on the factory equipment, some data, and literature and resubmitted the permit application. As it takes about six months to obtain a permit after submitting documents, we expect to obtain the permit within the first quarter of next year.” “He said.

If this approval is granted, Hugel will capture all three of the global toxin markets (China, Europe, and the United States). Currently, Hugel is the only one of the three companies to have entered the Chinese market and has also completed entry into 23 European countries.

Meanwhile, Medytox recently received approval for the sale of ‘Meditoxin’ from the Thai Food and Drug Administration ( TFDA ) and began exporting in earnest this month. Meditoxin had discontinued sales in Thailand in 2002 due to domestic administrative measures. As Medytox recently won in the first administrative lawsuit, the measure was suddenly lifted.

Three years ago, Meditoxin surpassed 10 billion won in sales in the Thai market, ranking first in the industry. A Medytox official said, “With the resumption of sales of Meditoxin in Thailand, we have gained further strength in targeting the Southeast Asian market. We will show quick results by focusing our company’s capabilities on recovering sales in the Thai market, which recorded annual sales of over 10 billion won.” revealed.