Dong-A ST said Wednesday that it recorded the sales of 567.2 billion ($504.2 million) last year, a 2.2 percent increase from 2017.

Dong-A ST headquarters in Yongdu-dong, eastern Seoul

The company also registered 39.3 billion won in operating profit, a drastic 63.2 percent increase from the previous year, while posting a net profit of 31.2 billion won, turning to a surplus from a deficit in 2017.

“Despite the difficult internal and external conditions in the ethical drug (ETC) field, revenues grew year-on-year due to the increase in sales, technology export commissions and overseas milestones,” the company said. “The ETC division continued to decline in recent years due to the termination of copyright contracts, expiration of major product patents, and intensifying competition.”

In the past year, however, Dong-A ST managed to attain turnover growth thanks to new products such as Suganon, Jublia, Baracle, and Edarbi, the company added.

Its operating profit grew in line with an increase in ETC business’ technology export commission, it said. The company allocated 74 billion won, 13 percent of its total sales, to research and development.

“The R&D for the company’s major pipelines is proceeding smoothly,” the company said. “They include DA-1241, a diabetes treatment candidate, DA-9805, a Parkinson’s disease treatment candidate and DA-8010, a nominee for treating irritable cystitis.”

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