Company Behind 4 Billion Gevorin Tablets Sold Has a Market Cap of 227.6 Billion Won

Samjin Pharmaceutical’s operating profit fell to 3.6 billion won in the first quarter of this year. The company markets Gevorin, an analgesic with cumulative sales of 4 billion tablets.

Samjin Pharmaceutical reported first-quarter 2026 revenue of 68 billion won, operating profit of 3.6 billion won and net income of 1.4 billion won in its quarterly report filed May 15. Revenue fell 3.9% from a year earlier, while operating profit declined 25.8% and net income dropped 62.6%.

Gevorin has been sold in pharmacies for 47 years since its launch in March 1979. In South Korea’s antipyretic and analgesic market, it has maintained second place behind Tylenol, which generated 58.4 billion won in 2023, and it has received the top award in the analgesic category of the Brand Customer Loyalty survey for nine consecutive years.

Gevorin, however, accounts for a relatively small share of the company’s results. Gevorin revenue was 19.6 billion won in 2022, about 7% of total revenue of 268.1 billion won that year.

Products that support Samjin Pharmaceutical’s revenue are prescription drugs that consumers are unlikely to encounter on pharmacy shelves. The antithrombotic drug Plavix accounted for about 75 billion won, or 27.37% of total revenue, in 2022.

About 60% of revenue comes from generic drugs containing ingredients whose patents have expired. Wholesalers and hospitals account for more than 85% of distribution channels.

The company’s advertising spending structure is one reason its name is less familiar than its products. Samjin Pharmaceutical’s mass-media advertising spending from January through November 2019 totaled 897.49 million won, the lowest among the 16 pharmaceutical companies included in the tally.

Samjin Pharmaceutical was also absent from the list of 44 pharmaceutical companies included among the top 500 corporate spenders on mass-media advertising in 2025. In the same tally, Myungin Pharmaceutical spent 100.3 billion won and Dongkook Pharmaceutical spent 81 billion won.

The company did not avoid advertising spending altogether. Samjin Pharmaceutical’s advertising and promotional expenses totaled 4.4 billion won in the first half of 2021, up 46.37% from 3 billion won in the same period a year earlier. Revenue growth during the same period was just 0.52%.

The spending went toward Gevorin brand campaigns rather than the corporate brand. In March 2025, the company launched a new advertisement featuring the slogan “Smart with one tablet,” after expanding the Gevorin lineup with Gevorin Soft, Gevorin Cool Down and Gevorin V.

Profitability indicators, meanwhile, have deteriorated for five consecutive years. The operating margin fell from 13.6% in 2021 to 8.7% in 2025, while the gross margin declined from 47.1% to 40.5%.

During the same period, revenue increased from 250.1 billion won to 309.1 billion won. Cost of sales rose from 132.2 billion won to 184 billion won.

Operating profit in 2025 was 26.8 billion won, down 15.2% from 31.6 billion won in 2024. Compared with the 59.5 billion won recorded in 2018, it was less than half.

The first-quarter weakness also stemmed from costs. The cost-of-sales ratio rose to 63.2%, up 2.5 percentage points from 60.7% a year earlier. The selling, general and administrative expense ratio fell from 32.5% to 31.5%.

Research and development spending totaled 8.3 billion won in the first quarter, equivalent to 12.2% of revenue. That was 300 million won less than the 8.6 billion won spent a year earlier.

Borrowing pressure increased. Total borrowings rose by 58.7 billion won, from 49.8 billion won in 2021 to 108.5 billion won in 2025.

A substantial portion of the increase went to the Osong plant. Samjin Pharmaceutical invested about 69.3 billion won to complete the injectable-drug building in November 2022 and expand the active pharmaceutical ingredient building.

The effects of the investment have begun to appear in the company’s indicators. The Osong plant’s average operating rate was 59.3% in the first quarter, up 16.2 percentage points from 43.1% a year earlier. Injectable-drug production increased from 1.9 billion won to 7.2 billion won.

The biggest variable is the drug-pricing system. If the government lowers the reimbursement rate for generics from 53.55% to the 40% range, generic-drug prices will fall by about 25%.

In that case, Samjin Pharmaceutical’s annual revenue decline is estimated at 30 billion to 40 billion won. That would exceed its 2025 operating profit of 26.8 billion won.

The company has set a course toward changing its prescription-drug portfolio. In January this year, it established a specialty-care organization targeting oncology and pulmonary arterial hypertension, and in March recruited director Young-hyun Seo, a former executive at a multinational pharmaceutical company, as branch head.

The transdermal analgesic Norspan Patch generated 9.3 billion won in 2025. The influenza vaccines Fluad and Flucelvax recorded 3.6 billion won in their first quarter on the market, the third quarter of 2025.

Partner Aribio’s oral Alzheimer disease treatment AR1001 was selected for an oral presentation in the opening session of an international academic conference in November, featuring global phase 3 results on July 22. Samjin Pharmaceutical holds the exclusive rights to manufacture and sell the drug in South Korea.

The stock market’s valuation of the company is below one year’s revenue. On July 30, Samjin Pharmaceutical’s share price was 17,090 won and its market capitalization was 227.6 billion won, with a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.68 and a dividend yield of 4.68%.

The company has maintained its dividend at 800 won per share for five consecutive years. Its dividend payout ratio was 41.89% in 2025, and on March 20 it disclosed a corporate-value enhancement plan that includes a dividend payout ratio of at least 20% from 2025 through 2027.

The shareholder structure also shifted. Hana Pharmaceutical sold all 995,198 Samjin Pharmaceutical shares it held, representing 7.11%, for 23.36 billion won.

Treasury shares fell to 662,225 shares, or 4.97%, after the cancellation of 580,000 shares. The owner families of Chairman Eui-hwan Cho and Chairman Seung-joo Choi collectively hold shares in the 23% range.

Brokerages estimated Samjin Pharmaceutical’s 2026 revenue at 325.1 billion won and operating profit at 29 billion won. Heungkuk Securities forecast that a profitability structure with an operating margin of about 10% would become established through cost efficiency, including lower costs of sales and advertising and promotional expenses.

Samjin Pharmaceutical also began producing and supplying Samjin Lorazepam tablets, a nationally essential medicine, on July 1. The move followed the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety’s approval of a change in the manufacturing site.