Celltrion 1Q Sales 597.5 Billion KRW... Operating Profit Up 41%

Celltrion recorded first-quarter sales of 597.5 billion KRW, a 12.4% increase compared to the same period last year. Operating profit also rose 41.1% to 182.3 billion KRW.

Incheon Songdo Celltrion Plant 2 Overview. / Incheon - Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

Celltrion announced on the 8th that its consolidated financial statements for the first quarter of this year showed provisional operating results of sales at 597.488 billion KRW, operating profit at 182.359 billion KRW, and net profit at 167.088 billion KRW. Compared to the same period last year, sales increased by 12.4%, while operating profit and net profit rose by 41.1% and 37.8%, respectively.

The company explained, "The increase in biopharmaceutical sales drove overall sales growth." Celltrion's biopharmaceutical sales increased by 49% compared to the same period last year.

With increased supply of next-generation flagship products, the autoimmune disease treatment 'RemsimaSC' and the blood cancer treatment 'Truxima,' the company succeeded for the first time in history in surpassing 400 billion KRW in quarterly biosimilar sales. In particular, the expansion of the sales proportion of RemsimaSC, which has high profitability, significantly improved operating profit. It was also analyzed that the stable market share of major biosimilar products in Europe and the U.S. contributed to the increase in operating profit.

RemsimaSC, which has established itself as a major growth driver for Celltrion, achieved a market share of 32% in Germany and 21% in France as of the fourth quarter of last year, raising its market share to 16.1% across the five major European countries (EU5). When combined with Remsima's market share across the entire European market, the total market share reaches 68%, the company explained.

Remsima SC Model
Photo by Lee Chunhee

Following the steady global market growth of its major biosimilar product lines, Celltrion plans to strengthen its biosimilar business this year by continuing clinical trials and approvals of follow-up biosimilar pipelines. At the same time, it will continue efforts to become a new drug development company through new drug development and investment in antibody-drug conjugates (ADC), bispecific antibodies and antibody new drugs, and microbiomes.

Following the European approval application for the 'Xolair' biosimilar 'CT-P39' at the end of last month, Celltrion is expediting approvals for the 'Stelara' biosimilar 'CT-P43' and the 'Eylea' biosimilar 'CT-42.' Meanwhile, the 'Ocrevus' biosimilar 'CT-P53,' the 'Prolia' biosimilar 'CT-P41,' and the 'Actemra' biosimilar 'CT-P47' are undergoing Phase 3 clinical trials.

A Celltrion official said, "With increased biopharmaceutical sales and a solid market share in the global market, both sales and operating profit increased in the first quarter of this year, continuing a stable growth trend. We will further strengthen our competitiveness in the biosimilar business by expanding the biosimilar pipeline and continue to do our best to secure new drug pipelines and platforms to advance as a new drug development company."

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