Hugel is ramping up efforts to attain 1 trillion won ($911.5 million) in sales by 2025, the company’s top manager said at the 2021 J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference Wednesday.

“To achieve the goal, the company has started preparations by expanding facilities to meet future increased demands,” Hugel CEO Sohn Ji-hoon said. “The company designed its factory located in Chuncheon, Gangwon Province, to comply with global regulations, such as cGMP (current good manufacturing practice) and EU GMP as well as the Korean GMP.”

To date, the factory has produced more than 10 million vials of botulinum toxin (BTX) and 12 million syringes for HA filler, he noted added.

Sohn stressed that the company is adding additional plants. “Hugel is working to operate our third BTX plant from 2023, which is capable of producing 8 million vials a year, and a new hyaluronic acid (HA) filler plant, which can manufacture 8 million syringes, from the first half of this year,” Sohn said.

The company will also expand its pipeline.

“Clinical trials are underway to expand indications in both beauty and treatment, such as benign masseter hypertrophy, overactive bladder, cervical muscle dystonia,” he said. “We are planning to begin phase 1 trials of painless liquid BTX products in the first quarter, and are working on next-generation products, such as patch-type BTX formulation coated with microneedles.”

Sohn also presented the company’s global expansion plan.

“Hugel aims to export its BTX products to 59 countries, more than double the existing 28 countries, and increase the number of export destinations from 31 to 53 countries for its HA fillers within the next three years,” Sohn said. “If the company achieves its BTX export goals, Hugel will cover 95 percent of the global toxin market, worth about 5 trillion won.”

In China, which recently approved Hugel’s BTX product, Letybo, the company will expand its market share through holding academic seminars and making other aggressive marketing activities.

“The goal is to achieve 10 percent market share this year, and 30 percent within three years, in cooperation with Sihuan Pharmaceutical, our Chinese partner,” Sohn said. “Hugel will also set up a training center in China, which will provide education and K-aesthetic content to local medical personnel, and conduct various marketing activities, such as off- and online holding academic events in 15 major Chinese cities.”

Hugel also expects to advance into advanced countries, such as the EU and U.S., soon, CEO Sohn said.

“We expect to receive approval for its BTX formulation in Europe in the first half of this year, and has partnered with Croma Pharmaceutical, an Austrian pharmaceutical company, to advance into the EU market and achieve 10-15 percent market share by 2025,” Sohn said. “We also are seeking to advance to the U.S. market, considered the largest BTX market, and plan to submit a biologics license application (BLA) in the first quarter.”

The company plans to maximize market share and profitability by directly expanding sales and distribution through its subsidiary, Hugel America, and plans to increase market share by more than 10 percent by 2025, he added.