Driven by rising demand for foreign medical beauty tourism and growing overseas exports, Korea's beauty and medical device corporations are sustaining earnings growth. As foreign medical spending, once centered on plastic surgery, shifts to natural skin improvement and noninvasive procedures, corporations with related medical devices as well as toxin and filler portfolios are beginning to expand in earnest.
On the 13th, according to the Korea Health Industry Development Institute (KHIDI), the number of foreign actual patients treated in Korea last year (excluding duplicates) was about 1.17 million, a 93.2% surge from a year earlier. It was the first time since foreign medical tourism began in 2009 that the annual figure topped 1 million. An analysis of card payment data showed that foreigners' expenditure in Korea's medical sector totaled 1.4052 trillion won, with an average of 1.53 million won per person.
By expenditure category, dermatology was the largest at 585.5 billion won, far exceeding plastic surgery (359.4 billion won). Analysts say foreign medical spending, once focused on plastic surgery, is shifting toward skin improvement and anti-aging. By nationality, Japanese patients were the most numerous at 441,000, followed by China (260,000), the United States (101,000), and Taiwan (83,000). Among Japanese patients, women accounted for 94%, and those in their 20s and 30s made up 74%.
Recently, U.S. celebrity model Kim Kardashian also drew overseas attention by posting on her social media (SNS) that she underwent a dermatology procedure in Korea known as the "salmon injection." The procedure is known as Rejuran, a skin regeneration injection based on salmon extract developed by PharmaResearch.
Amid this trend, Korea's beauty and medical device corporations are also benefiting. PharmaResearch and CLASSYS, which owns the lifting medical devices "Volnewmer" and "Shurink," are leading earnings growth.
PharmaResearch holds the facial wrinkle-improvement medical device Rejuran, the filler "Rejuven," and the intra-articular knee injection "Conjuran," and is focusing on pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, and health supplements centered on "Rejuran Cosmetic." Among these, sales of beauty medical devices such as Rejuran account for more than half of total revenue and are the key driver of earnings growth. As of the third quarter last year, the domestic sales share reached 72%.
Recently, growth in the U.S. market has stood out. On a consolidation basis, export sales to the United States jumped 467% year over year to 5.9 billion won in the first quarter last year, then climbed to 8.3 billion won (230%) in the second quarter and 9.6 billion won (495%) in the third quarter. The securities market expects PharmaResearch's U.S. sales to nearly double from 34.2 billion won last year to 61.5 billion won this year. Operating profit is also projected to exceed 300 billion won next year and 360 billion won in 2027.
Another factor fueling expectations for overseas growth is that global investment bank Morgan Stanley has emerged as a major shareholder with more than a 5% equity stake in PharmaResearch. Rejuran is currently exported to 30 countries across Asia, Australia, South America, and the Middle East, and is set to enter 22 countries in Western Europe simultaneously this year.
CLASSYS is also maintaining high growth. Specializing in noninvasive lifting devices such as high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) and radio frequency (RF), CLASSYS is estimated to have surpassed 300 billion won in annual sales for the first time last year. Revenue rose rapidly from the 140 billion-won range in 2022 to 180.1 billion won in 2023 and 242.9 billion won in 2024, while operating profit grew more than 30% each year. Last year's estimated operating profit is 168.2 billion won.
As energy-based devices (EBD) such as ultrasound and radio frequency gain traction in beauty procedures, the overall market has expanded. While Ulthera by Germany's Merz and Thermage by U.S.-based Solta Medical are cited as representative global products, CLASSYS is increasing its export share on the back of price competitiveness. As of the third quarter last year, exports accounted for 65% of total sales.
Starting this year, sales are expected to expand in key markets including the United States, Europe, and China. CLASSYS launched the monopolar RF device "iovera" (Volnewmer in Korea) in the United States in 2024, and last year won U.S. approval for a clinical trial plan for the noninvasive focused ultrasound device "Ultraformer" (Shurink in Korea).
The overseas push by HUGEL, Medytox, and Daewoong Pharmaceutical, which focus on botulinum toxin businesses, is also drawing attention. As competition intensifies in the domestic market, these corporations are shifting their growth axis overseas.
HUGEL supplies the botulinum toxin product "LetibotulinumtoxinA" (Botulax in Korea) to more than 70 countries, including China, Thailand, Japan, Taiwan, Australia, and Europe. Having launched LetibotulinumtoxinA in the U.S. market last year, whether it gains traction locally is seen as a watershed for future growth.
Medytox is accelerating its overseas expansion through its subsidiary Numeco. It signed a five-year supply contract for toxin products worth a total of $73 million (109.4 billion won) with Brazilian partner Blau and also concluded an exclusive distribution agreement for exports to China with Hainan Sterow. Recently, it signed supply contracts with Amico Group for the high-purity next-generation toxin "NEWLUX" and the hyaluronic acid (HA) filler "Neuramis," expanding its sales network to 10 Middle Eastern countries, including the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Kuwait, Egypt, Iraq, Qatar, Oman, and Lebanon.
Following Europe and Asia, it is also stepping up efforts to penetrate Latin America. Medytox became the first among domestic botulinum toxin products to enter the Saudi Arabian market and recently secured product approval for "NEWLUX" from the General Directorate of Drugs and Pharmacy (DGDF) in the Dominican Republic, paving the way for a full-fledged entry into the local market.
Buoyed by this overseas expansion, Medytox's sales continue to grow, and the securities market projects it will surpass 300 billion won in annual revenue for the first time next year, with operating profit topping 50 billion won.
Daewoong Pharmaceutical is also expanding overseas markets with "Nabota" at the center. Nabota was the first among domestic toxin products to enter the U.S. market, where it maintains a local market share of around 14%. After Europe and key Latin American countries, it has recently targeted the Middle East as a new growth market and intensified its local push.
An industry official said, "Demand for foreign medical tourism is expanding structurally rather than as a short-term event, and beauty procedure trends are quickly shifting toward noninvasive and skin improvement," adding, "As domestic corporations have price competitiveness, clinical data, and overseas distribution networks at the same time, this year will be when export results are fully reflected in earnings."