Boryung Pharmaceuticals_보령제약 recorded sales of 99.8 billion won ($88.3 million) in the first quarter, according to an interim tally released Thursday. Turnover rose 12.27 percent from the same period of last year, and 2.21 percent from the previous quarter.

Operating profit increased 12.68 percent year-on-year to 4.8 billion won, which was a hefty 321.55-percent rise from the last quarter of 2016. Net profit turned around to a surplus compared with the preceding quarter but marked a 16.61-percent drop from a year earlier.

The improved performance in the first quarter seems to reflect the growth of the “Kanarb-family” products and some newly introduced medicines.

Boryung released two Kanarb complexes -- Dukarb in August and Tuvero in November – establishing the Kanarb family line, which also includes Kanarbplus. Dukarb, in particular, is a high blood pressure therapy that combines Kanarb of the ARB series and amlodipine of the CCB series, while Tuvero is a combined treatment of hyperlipidemia/high blood pressure by combining Kanarb to and rosuvastatin.

The sales created by the release of the two complex therapies seem to have reflected on the first quarter performances. According to stock market analysts, the prescriptions of Kanarb, Dukarb, and Tuvero amounted to about 9.5 billion won, 1.7 billion won, and 100 million won, respectively, in the January-March quarter.

The growth potential of these new products is quite strong, as the market for composites of ARB and CCB series is likely to expand continuously after they emerged as the new trend in the treatment of high blood pressure, and the prescription pattern is also shifting from single to complex therapies. The sales of Kanarb are also expected to increase as the drug begins its shipment to Russia during the first-half year and to Southeast Asia in the second half.

Boryung increased the number of import items from Lilly last year, which also contributed to its sales growth. The company helped to expand the market for Lily’s antidepressants Prozac and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) therapy Strattera, by jointly marketing these drugs last year.