[Click eStock] Celltrion Expands Product Portfolio... "Profitability Improvement"

[Asia Economy Reporter Ji Yeon-jin] SK Securities announced on the 13th that it maintains a buy investment opinion and a target price of 370,000 KRW for Celltrion, stating that the sales structure has positively improved in profitability as it expanded from the past single Remsima product line to various product lines recently.

Dalmi Lee, a researcher at SK Securities, predicted, "The Takeda pharmaceutical division acquired last year is expected to drive sales growth in the second half as meaningful figures are reflected from the second half."

Celltrion's sales in the first quarter of this year increased by 22.6% year-on-year to 457 billion KRW, and operating profit rose by 72.7% to 207.7 billion KRW. The operating profit exceeded market expectations by 6.1%. Sales are composed of a diverse product portfolio including high-profit products such as Truxima, Herzuma, and Uplima, and the gross profit margin improved by 15.3 percentage points due to process improvements at Plants 1 and 2. A reduction in selling and administrative expenses also contributed to the performance.

Uplima (a high-concentration Humira biosimilar), which received European approval in February, began recognizing sales from the first quarter. This product is highly profitable, and an increase in its sales proportion is expected to improve profits. Additionally, the COVID-19 treatment Regkirona has been administered to over 2,700 patients at about 70 hospitals as of May 6, and the rates of severe and fatal cases have been decreasing after Regkirona prescriptions. It has shown neutralizing effects against circulating variant viruses, and since global Phase 3 clinical trials involving 1,300 subjects have been completed, results are expected to be announced within the first half of the year. Currently, a rolling review for expedited European approval is underway, and approval is anticipated within this year.

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