Real-time polymerase chain reaction COVID-19 detection test kit maker Seegene saw a whopping 600 percent jump in its consolidated operating profit and net profit in the first quarter of 2020, according to company filings on May 14.

Seegene rose from being one of many molecular diagnosis companies to a globally acknowledged high-profile firm after it became one of the first to produce a real-time PCR COVID-19 test kit. 

The company said it posted a consolidated revenue of 81.8 billion won ($66 million), operating profit of 39.8 billion won and a net profit of 33.7 billion won.

Seegene has affiliated arms in Genova in Italy, Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates, the US state of California, Toronto in Ontario, Canada, Dusseldorf in Germany, Minas Gerais in Brazil and Mexico City, Mexico.

The firm is listed on the secondary Kosdaq bourse in Korea.

By Lim Jeong-yeo (kaylalim@heraldcorp.com)