SEOUL, South Korea, Dec. 14, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- South Korea's biotechnology company specializing in molecular diagnosis, Seegene Inc. (KQ096530), announced Monday that its aggregated sales this year have already surpassed the KRW 1 trillion mark, up nearly 10 times its previous annual sales of KRW 120 billion in 2019. This is largely due to an exponential surge in demand for both molecular diagnostic test kits and according PCR instruments, critical in accurately diagnosing patients.

Riding on the robust growth in sales, Seegene said it plans on raising its annual production capacity to KRW 5 trillion from the current KRW 2 trillion by the first quarter of 2021. The company's five production facilities are located in Hanam City, in the vicinity of capital Seoul. Additionally, Seegene recently purchased 10,752 square meters of land in Hanam City, able to handle even greater global demand in the future.

With the COVID-19 pandemic, the sales of not only the COVID-19 test kits but the demand for those of other illnesses such as HPV, gastrointestinal infections and sexually transmitted infections also increased significantly. With Seegene's diverse diagnostic reagent products numbering more than 150, there is an increasing trend throughout the world to install Seegene's PCR instruments, which in turn would generate more long-term sales. The company installed more PCR instruments in November alone than it did in the entire year of 2019.

As a way to share profit with its shareholders, Seegene also announced that it will boost dividend payouts by a whopping 15 folds to KRW 1,500 for the 2020 fiscal year. The molecular diagnostics firm said it will begin releasing preliminary quarterly earnings disclosure for swift information sharing with the public.

An official from Seegene said the 'COVID-19 pandemic both expanded the molecular diagnostics market and raised Seegene's brand awareness to the healthcare professionals, government officials and the general public alike'. He added the 'demand for molecular diagnostic test to identify coronavirus patients will remain intact even with the introduction of vaccines'. Learning from the experience of the pandemic, the official added that even 'in the post COVID-19 era, the molecular diagnostics will be used extensively to properly test and treat patients'.