Lotus Pharmaceutical Co (美時化學製藥), one of the nation’s leading specialty generic drug developers, yesterday said revenue last year hit a record NT$10.58 billion (US$371.4 million) on the back of robust exports.
Revenue last year rose 15 percent annually, despite plummeting 41.7 percent last month to NT$1.01 billion, which could be attributed to a high comparison base in 2019 due to higher sales of gSuboxone, a company official said by telephone.
GSuboxone is the generic version of Indivior Inc’s Suboxone used in the treatment of opioid use disorder, company data showed.
“Although falling annually, December’s revenue still stood at a comparatively high level. It was the fifth month with revenue of more than NT$1 billion last year,” Lotus Pharmaceutical director of corporate finance and investor relations Angela Luan (欒君儀) said.
The company’s exports grew steadily last quarter, albeit at a lower rate than the annual rise of 192 percent in the third quarter, driven by sales of oncology products and gSuboxone, and licensing fees, Luan said.
“Overall, exports made up more than 35 percent of our total revenue last year, hitting a new high. Strong sales of gSuboxone played an important role as we steadily seized a market share of 35 percent in the US,” she said.
As the price of its generic drug is more competitive than the branded drug, many physicians have prescribed gSuboxone to their patients, which boosted the drug’s market position, Luan said.
The company’s sales of gSuboxone were not affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, as people with prescription from their doctors could buy the drug at pharmacies, she said.
Lotus Pharmaceutical’s two markets in East Asia — Taiwan and South Korea — reported decent annual growth in revenue in light of the addition of acquired or licensed-in brand products, Luan said.
New revenue streams from Southeast Asian countries, such as Thailand and Vietnam, contributed about 5 percent of total sales, she said.
Uncertainty over whether the pandemic would end this year and whether governments would tighten lockdowns continue to cloud the company’s outlook, as the distribution of some of its drugs would be affected if patients could not visit hospitals, Luan said.
Separately yesterday, Dr Wu Skincare Co (達爾膚生醫科技) reported revenue of NT$62.15 million for last month, up 3.6 percent year-on-year, while its full-year sales for last year slid 24.6 percent annually to NT$765 million, according to a regulatory filing.
The company attributed the annual decline to lower demand at its physical stores after the number of foreign tourists to Taiwan plummeted amid the pandemic.
The firm would focus on e-commerce operations to attract more local consumers, it said in a statement.
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