SD Biosensor, bolstered by strong sales thanks to its Covid-19 diagnostic kits, has acquired a 100 percent stake in Eco Diagnostica, a Brazilian diagnostic company, for 47.4 billion won ($40.1 million), the company said.

Founded in 2011, Eco Diagnostica manufactures and distributes human and animal diagnostic products. It ranked second in sales in the diagnostic industry and ranked first for Covid-19 rapid diagnostic kits in Brazil in the first half of this year,

SD Biosensor said it would enter the global in-vitro diagnostic market more actively based on its Latin American foothold with the acquisition.

The company added that it plans to create new growth engines using the ample funds secured by the recent Covid-19 rapid diagnosis kit sale. As a result, the sales of SD Biosensor in the first half of the year increased more than eight times from a year ago to reach 1.95 trillion won, and the company’s operating profit also soared 12 times to 966.7 billion won.

“We have confirmed the possibility of business expansion in the South American diagnostic market,” SD Biosensor CEO Lee Hyo-geun said. “Through this acquisition, we will grow further by accelerating product registration in the market and taking advantage of local production.”

Brazil has the largest economy in South America and the eighth-largest health market globally. According to SD Biosensor, the Brazilian diagnostics market accounts for about 37 percent of the total in-vitro diagnostics market in South America.