[Click eStock] "Celltrion to Remain a Leading Stock in the Korean Market in the Second Half"

Foundation Laid for Global Comprehensive Pharmaceutical Company Leap through Acquisition of Certain Business Divisions of Japan's Takeda Pharmaceutical

[Asia Economy Reporter Minwoo Lee] There is a forecast that Celltrion will continue to lead the domestic stock market in the second half of the year. This is because the company is expected to grow its influence within the industry by acquiring the Asia-Pacific business division of Japan's Takeda Pharmaceutical, thereby advancing into a global comprehensive pharmaceutical company.

On the 17th, SK Securities maintained a 'Buy' rating on Celltrion and raised the target price by 48% to 370,000 KRW. The key basis for this was the acquisition of Takeda Pharmaceutical's Asia-Pacific pharmaceutical business division, announced on the 11th, valued at 332.4 billion KRW.

Through this acquisition, Celltrion secured full rights including patents, trademarks, approvals, sales goodwill, and inventory assets for 12 prescription drug brands and 6 over-the-counter drug brands of Takeda Pharmaceutical's Asia-Pacific pharmaceutical business division. The sales regions cover nine countries including South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Hong Kong, Macau, the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, and Australia. Prescription drugs include diabetes treatments Nesina and Actos, as well as the hypertension treatment Edarbi. Over-the-counter drugs include well-known products such as cold medicine Hwaituben and stomatitis treatment Albothyl.

Accordingly, this is seen as a stepping stone for Celltrion to advance into a global comprehensive pharmaceutical company. Last year, the company already launched five products in the United States, and the strategy to strengthen the chemical pharmaceutical business at the company level is expected to gain momentum. Once this acquisition is completed, an additional annual revenue of 160 billion KRW and operating profit of 32 billion KRW are expected to be generated. These results are anticipated to be fully reflected starting next year.

Researcher Dalmi Lee of SK Securities explained, "The favorable performance growth continuing into the second half, the ban on short selling, and the development of COVID-19 treatments will act as positive momentum for stock price increases in the second half."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.