韩国药企加速布局数字医疗，Daewoong、Dong-A ST相关收入快速增长

South Korean drugmakers are pouring money into digital healthcare companies one after another, expanding their business scope. As profitability pressure mounts on their existing pharmaceutical operations from generic drug price cuts and other factors, digital healthcare is emerging as a new axis of growth. Moving beyond simple equity investments to licensing deals and cooperation in sales and marketing, cases that translate into actual revenue are also increasing.
According to the industry on the 23rd, Daewoong Pharmaceutical (069620.KS) plans to complete a pre-IPO investment this month in Emocog, a company developing digital therapeutics for dementia. It is also reportedly pursuing a plan to use Daewoong's hospital and clinic network for the sales and distribution of products such as CogTherapy, a digital therapeutic being developed by Emocog for patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Earlier, GC Green Cross (006280.KS) had also participated as an early investor in Emocog. Green Cross Holdings (005250.KS) invested 3 billion won in Emocog's Series A in 2021 and held a 2.8% stake as of the end of June this year.
Drugmakers are moving into digital healthcare investment because they can commercialize quickly using their existing hospital and clinic sales networks. An industry official explained, "Unlike new drugs, digital health can speed up market entry by combining a promising company's technology with a drugmaker's distribution and sales capabilities."
Daewoong Pharmaceutical invested a cumulative 33 billion won in the digital healthcare field from 2020 through the end of June this year. In the first half of this year alone, it put 7.4 billion won into six companies, including Inmed Data, TR, Promedius and iKooB. It is also expanding its investment and collaboration areas from diagnosis to post-discharge management, including AI endoscopy diagnosis with Waycen, smart wards with Seers and TR, AI medical records with Puzzle AI, and home care with Arc.
Sales are also on a growth track. Daewoong Pharmaceutical's digital healthcare revenue rose from 4.8 billion won in the first quarter of 2024 to 17 billion won in the first quarter of this year, more than tripling in two years. In the second quarter, it recorded 15.7 billion won, up 26.6% from 12.4 billion won a year earlier. The securities industry forecasts that annual revenue will approach 100 billion won this year, up from 50.9 billion won last year. Shin Min-soo, an analyst at Kiwoom Securities, said, "The digital healthcare business should be able to offset the slowing growth of the core business," adding, "With bold investment and sales that combine hospital and clinic sales networks, the growth is likely to continue for the time being."
Dong-A ST is also expanding its investments and business cooperation. After investing 3 billion won in remote patient monitoring company Mezoo in 2021, it invested 2 billion won each in March this year in Mediwhale, an AI cardiovascular disease prediction company, and People and Technology, a smart ward platform company. As of the end of June this year, the book value of its 3.75% stake in Mezoo stood at about 5.3 billion won, more than double the initial investment of 2.5 billion won. It has maintained its stake even after Mezoo's listing and supplies the remote patient monitoring platform HiCardi through Dong-A ST's sales network.
Sales growth is also steep. Dong-A ST's digital health revenue in the first half of this year was 5 billion won, up 220.4% from a year earlier. In the second quarter alone, it recorded 3.2 billion won, approaching last year's full-year revenue. In the second half, it plans to launch the HiCardi M350, which adds oxygen saturation and blood pressure measurement to its existing heart rate, respiration and body temperature functions, to sustain the growth.
Yuhan (000100.KS) has also invested a cumulative 9 billion won in companies such as Huinno. After securing the domestic sales rights for the wearable electrocardiogram device MEMO Patch in 2022, it commercialized the AI remote monitoring system MEMO Q last year, expanding its business into a patient monitoring platform.