[Edaily NA EUN-KYUNG Reporter] DuChemBio Co.,LTD.(176750), a company specializing in radiopharmaceuticals, announced on the 18th that it recorded sales of 20.9 billion won and operating profit of 3.2 billion won in the first half of this year. Compared to the same period last year, sales increased by 16.3% and operating profit by 24.6%, continuing its growth in scale alongside improved profitability.

Second-quarter revenue reached 11.2 billion won, a 17.8% increase year-over-year, marking the company’s highest-ever quarterly performance. This figure surpassed the previous record of 10.7 billion won set in the fourth quarter of last year. The second-quarter operating profit margin stood at 17.2%, up 3.8 percentage points from the first quarter’s 13.4%.

Growth in the first half of the year was driven by increased sales of diagnostic agents for Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and prostate cancer. Combined sales of the Alzheimer’s disease diagnostic agents “NeuraCheck” and “Vizamil” reached 4.5 billion won, a 38.2% increase year-over-year, while sales of the Parkinson’s disease diagnostic agent “18F-FP-CIT” rose 20.8% to 2.3 billion won.

Sales of the three major diagnostic products—including the prostate cancer diagnostic—totaled 7.6 billion won in the first half, a 45.8% increase compared to the same period last year. Their share of total revenue also expanded by 7.3 percentage points, rising from 28.9% in the first half of last year to 36.2% this year. These products accounted for 81% of the total revenue growth in the first half. “FDG,” the company’s existing flagship cancer diagnostic product, recorded revenue of 10.8 billion won in the first half.

Quarterly sales growth continues as well. DuChemBio Co, LTD’s quarterly sales last year increased each quarter, reaching 8.5 billion won in Q1, 9.5 billion won in Q2, 9.9 billion won in Q3, and 10.7 billion won in Q4. This year, following 9.7 billion won in Q1, the company recorded 11.2 billion won in Q2. Operating profit last year also rose from 2.6 billion won in the first half to 4.9 billion won in the second half.

“Prostasic,” a prostate cancer diagnostic agent launched last December, also contributed to revenue growth. Second-quarter revenue for “Prostasic” rose by 61% compared to the first quarter. Following its approval for reimbursement under the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service’s (HIRA) positron emission tomography-computed tomography (PET-CT) procedure evaluation last November, the company laid the groundwork for expanded prescriptions this month by establishing a supply chain in the Yeongnam and Jeolla regions.

“Prostacik” is a radiopharmaceutical that targets prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) and is used to confirm the presence of metastasis or recurrence of prostate cancer via positron emission tomography. Since PSMA-targeted therapies require a diagnostic process to confirm PSMA expression in cancer cells prior to treatment, the expanded use of such therapies could lead to increased demand for PSMA diagnostics.

In particular, last July, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) expanded the indication for Novartis’s PSMA-targeted therapy ‘Flubicto’ to include metastatic hormone-responsive prostate cancer. Accordingly, the company anticipates that if the scope of patients eligible for such treatment expands in Korea in the future, demand for PSMA-targeted diagnostics is likely to increase as well.

The operating profit growth rate for the second quarter was 2.3%, lagging behind the revenue growth rate for the same period. The company explained that this was influenced by a base effect resulting from one-time, high-margin revenue recognized in the same period of the previous year, as well as an increase in selling, general, and administrative (SG&A) expenses, including bad debt provisions and recurring R&D expenses. However, the company noted that since the operating profit margin improved compared to the first quarter, its recurring profitability remains on a solid trajectory.

DuChemBio Co, LTD is pursuing investments in mid- to long-term production and R&D infrastructure alongside the expansion of its existing diagnostic business. The company plans to finalize the selection of a site within this year and invest up to 50 billion won in the construction of an R&D center and a contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) facility for radiopharmaceuticals. The goal is to obtain the necessary permits and licenses by 2028 and begin commercial production in 2030.

The company is also preparing to expand overseas operations for the Parkinson’s disease diagnostic agent “18F-FP-CIT.” The associated AI-based early-diagnosis imaging technology was granted a U.S. patent in May, and in July, the company completed registration of the primary raw material under the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Drug Master File (DMF) system. Based on these achievements, the company plans to pursue entry into overseas markets, including North America.

Kim Sang-woo, CEO of DuChemBio Co, LTD, stated, “While our flagship cancer diagnostic agent, FDG, maintains stable sales, diagnostic agents for Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and prostate cancer are establishing themselves as new growth drivers.” He added, “Sales are increasing quarter by quarter, and given that last year’s second-half sales exceeded those of the first half, we are aiming to achieve record-high annual sales this year.”

He continued, “In particular, sales of the prostate cancer diagnostic agent Prostasic have been rising since its launch, driven by a combination of reimbursement coverage and an expanded supply chain,” and added, “We will expand our supply chain to medical institutions nationwide that operate PET-CT scanners to meet the growing demand for precision diagnosis of prostate cancer.”