Healing cream originates from plant in Madagascar

Madecassol

Centella asiatica is a plant that grows in Madagascar, an island off the coast of southeast Africa. The people of the island use it to treat various skin ailments as well as Hansen’s disease, also known as leprosy.

Dongkook Pharmaceutical’s Madecassol, a cream used to treat light injuries such as scars, burns and stretch marks, is named after Madagascar because it uses centella asiatica as a main ingredient.

In 1970, Dongkook Pharmaceutical began importing the medical cream from the French company Roche. Realizing the healing power of the product, Dongkook learned the production skills necessary to make it from the French firm in 1978.

By 1984, Dongkook was able to use its own technology to produce the cream entirely on its own - from extracting the essential ingredients from the plant to manufacturing the final product.

As centella asiatica was used to treat Hansen’s disease, Dongkook Pharmaceutical focused its local sales strategy on this end of the market, concentrating initially on Sorok Island. At the time, the island, located off the shores of Goheung, South Jeolla, was home to a state-run hospital that specialized in treating patients suffering from Hansen’s disease. There was also a village populated by people with the ailment. Dongkook Pharmaceutical sales workers received permission from the government to visit the village two to three times a month to promote Madecassol. As part of these efforts, they even dined with patients.

The market ballooned from there and continues to grow to this day. The company took in 8 billion won ($6.7 million) in revenue from Madecassol sales last year and expects to exceed 10 billion won this year. The potential for profits could get better going forward. In January, Kim Ok-tae at the Rural Development Administration succeeded in cultivating centella asiatica in Korea for the first time ever. That will eventually make it possible to produce centella asiatica locally, which would lower costs for Dongkook.

By Choi Ji-young [ojlee82@joongang.co.kr]