Centellian24 overseas sales surge 566% in Q2 as pharmaceuticals, supplements and global businesses broaden growth base
Dongkook Pharmaceutical is moving closer to W1 trillion ($700 million) in annual revenue as rapid overseas growth of its dermacosmetics brand Centellian24 combines with solid expansion across pharmaceuticals, health supplements and international markets.
The South Korean pharmaceutical company reported consolidated revenue of W509.9 billion for the first half of 2026, up 11.5% from a year earlier and marking the first time its half-year revenue has exceeded W500 billion.
Operating profit increased 12.6% to W53.4 billion, while net profit climbed 20.9% to W43.6 billion.
On a standalone basis, revenue rose 16.7% to W436.5 billion, operating profit increased 23.4% to W47.8 billion and net profit jumped 32.9% to W40.8 billion.
The figures point to more than an increase in scale. Profit growth outpaced revenue growth, while expansion was spread across prescription and over-the-counter medicines, health and beauty products, health supplements and international businesses.
For a company long associated in South Korea with established pharmaceutical brands such as Madecassol, Insadol and Pansidil, the business mix is becoming considerably broader.
Centellian24 Emerges as a Global Growth Engine
The most visible change is taking place in dermacosmetics.
Overseas sales of Centellian24 surged 566% year over year in the second quarter, as Dongkook Pharmaceutical expanded the brand's presence across North America, Japan, Southeast Asia and other international markets.
In the United States, Centellian24 has expanded into major retail channels including Costco, Ulta Beauty and Nordstrom. Its Japanese distribution network includes Don Quijote and Loft, while the company is also extending its presence through major retail channels in Southeast Asia.
This is significant because Centellian24 is moving beyond the export model often associated with smaller Korean beauty brands and establishing a presence in mainstream overseas retail channels.
The brand already has a substantial domestic foundation.
Its flagship Madeca Cream, launched in 2015, surpassed 99 million units in cumulative sales as of June, bringing the product close to the 100-million-unit milestone.
Dongkook Pharmaceutical's official online store, DK SHOP, has also surpassed 1 million members.
The combination of a large domestic customer base and expanding overseas distribution gives Centellian24 the potential to become more than a successful Korean dermacosmetics brand. It is increasingly emerging as one of Dongkook Pharmaceutical's principal global growth engines.
Pharmaceutical Expertise Becomes a Consumer Healthcare Asset
Dongkook Pharmaceutical is also broadening its health and beauty portfolio beyond Centellian24.
The company has developed brands including low-irritation skincare line Madeca21 and pharmacy cosmetics brand Madeca Pharmacia, extending the "Madeca" identity across different consumer segments and distribution channels.
This strategy highlights an important characteristic of Dongkook Pharmaceutical's expansion.
Rather than entering beauty as an unrelated consumer business, the company is leveraging the brand recognition and pharmaceutical expertise it has accumulated through decades in healthcare.
That connection between pharmaceuticals and skincare could become particularly valuable overseas, where Korean beauty products are increasingly competing not only on trends and design but also on ingredients, efficacy and scientific positioning.
Centellian24 therefore represents more than diversification into cosmetics. It demonstrates how pharmaceutical expertise can be converted into a consumer healthcare platform with international scalability.
Health Supplements Add Another Growth Pillar
Health functional foods are emerging as another rapidly growing business.
Dongkook Pharmaceutical's health supplement sales increased by more than 40% year over year during the first half of 2026.
Its MyFit brand has generated approximately W47 billion in cumulative sales since launch, while the company continues to broaden its online and offline distribution channels.
Dermacosmetics and health supplements share a strategic advantage for Dongkook Pharmaceutical: both allow the company to extend consumer relationships beyond medicines purchased for specific conditions.
They also provide access to larger consumer markets and more frequent purchasing cycles.
As these businesses expand alongside pharmaceuticals, Dongkook Pharmaceutical is developing a portfolio that increasingly spans treatment, prevention, skincare and everyday health management.
Core Pharmaceutical Business Continues to Expand
The growth of consumer healthcare has not come at the expense of Dongkook Pharmaceutical's core pharmaceutical operations.
Its prescription drug business grew 10.5% year over year in the second quarter and 9.4% during the first half.
The company is also continuing to expand its over-the-counter portfolio, supported by established brands and new product categories.
This balance is important.
Dongkook Pharmaceutical's transformation is not a shift away from pharmaceuticals toward cosmetics. Instead, the company is using a stable pharmaceutical base to build additional growth businesses around healthcare.
It is also investing in drug delivery system technology and plans to expand its pipeline in areas including long-acting treatments and other next-generation therapies.
That provides a longer-term pharmaceutical growth track alongside the faster expansion currently being seen in consumer healthcare.
International Expansion Extends Beyond K-Beauty
Dongkook Pharmaceutical's global ambitions are not limited to Centellian24.
The company has also been expanding its pharmaceutical business overseas through licensing and supply partnerships.
One example is Uresco, its combination therapy for benign prostatic hyperplasia.
Dongkook Pharmaceutical has entered into a licensing and supply agreement with Spain-based FAES FARMA covering 13 Latin American countries over a 10-year period.
The agreement provides another route into international markets alongside the company's consumer business.
This creates a two-track global strategy: Centellian24 and other consumer healthcare brands can expand through overseas retail networks, while pharmaceutical products can enter new markets through licensing and local partnerships.
Such diversification could become increasingly important as Dongkook Pharmaceutical seeks growth beyond South Korea's domestic pharmaceutical market.
From a Korean OTC Leader to a Broader Healthcare Company
The broader significance of Dongkook Pharmaceutical's recent performance lies in the number of growth engines now operating simultaneously.
Long-established OTC products continue to provide a strong domestic foundation. Prescription medicines are expanding the pharmaceutical business, while Centellian24 is accelerating overseas.
Health supplements are adding another consumer healthcare pillar, and pharmaceutical licensing is opening new international markets.
The result is a company whose identity is becoming broader than its traditional position as a Korean pharmaceutical manufacturer.
With W509.9 billion in revenue already recorded in the first half, the W1 trillion annual revenue threshold is increasingly within reach if the current growth trajectory continues.
But crossing that milestone may ultimately be less important than what is driving it.
Dongkook Pharmaceutical is developing a business structure that combines pharmaceuticals, dermacosmetics, health supplements and overseas expansion rather than relying on a single blockbuster product or business segment.
Centellian24's rapid international growth is currently the most visible part of that transformation.
If the brand continues gaining traction overseas while the company's pharmaceutical and consumer healthcare businesses expand in parallel, Dongkook Pharmaceutical's next stage of growth could increasingly be defined not by its established position in South Korea, but by its ability to turn pharmaceutical expertise into a broader global healthcare business.
