Annual sales of a diabetes drug manufactured by LG Life Sciences Ltd., the pharmaceuticals unit of South Korea's LG Group, are likely to exceed 50 billion won ($44.9 million) this year, the drug firm said Wednesday.

It would mark the first time for the annual sales of a single homegrown drug to breach the 50 billion-won mark.

The combined sales of Zemiglo , which was approved as the nation's 19th new drug in 2012, and its composite drug Zemimet came to 23.7 billion won in the first half of the year, nearly twofold from 12 billion won a year ago, the firm said.

Earlier this year, LG Life Sciences signed a deal with Daewoong Pharmaceutical Co., another major South Korean drugmaker, to provide the drug to the global market.

"The jump in the sales is attributed to assigning Daewoong Pharmaceutical for the retail business," an industry expert said.

Zemiglo is a type 2 diabetes drug that lowers and controls a patient's blood sugar levels by delivering effects with just one tablet a day. (Yonhap)