Seo Jung-jin "Considering Listing Celltrion Holdings After the Merger of Three Companies"

"Next Year Sales Target 3.5 Trillion, Operating Profit 1.6 Trillion Achieved"
"Merger Driven by Shareholders and Investors' Demands, Not Private Interests"
"Developing Treatments for Obesity and Diabetes"

Seo Jung-jin, Chairman of the Celltrion Group, stated that he would consider the listing of Celltrion Holdings after the completion of the merger of the three companies: Celltrion, Celltrion Healthcare, and Celltrion Pharm.

Seo Jung-jin, Chairman of Celltrion Group, is speaking at a meeting held on the afternoon of the 24th. [Image source=Celltrion YouTube]

At an online briefing held on the afternoon of the 24th, Chairman Seo firmly drew the line on shareholder demands for stock price support measures such as executives purchasing shares and treasury stock cancellation, but said, "We will consider listing Celltrion Holdings if necessary," adding, "If funds are generated here, we will increase our stake, and if Holdings has surplus funds, we will also increase its stake." He further stated, "If surplus funds arise, we will expand our stake more," and emphasized, "Neither I nor Holdings will sell shares to seek capital gains."

However, Chairman Seo said that other stock price support measures are not possible, stating, "Executives cannot purchase shares until before the merger," and expressed displeasure at the demand for cancellation of treasury stock held by him, calling it "rude," and refused to answer.

Regarding this merger, Chairman Seo repeatedly emphasized that it is a merger requested by shareholders and investors, not for his personal purposes. He said, "The goal is to enhance transparency so that investors can trust our company cleanly," and added, "The background is to strengthen competitiveness by making bolder large-scale investments and increasing the market share of our products." If the current set opposite purchase claim amount of 1 trillion won is exceeded, although he mentioned there are countermeasures in a previous briefing, at this briefing he said, "If opposite purchase claims exceed 1 trillion won, it means that the entire shareholders do not want the merger," and "If it exceeds 1 trillion won, it could become a hurdle for the merger, so I ask shareholders to make wise judgments."

Model of Celltrion's Remsima SC (US name: Zimpentra) [Photo by Lee Chunhee]

Chairman Seo forecasted that the integrated Celltrion after the merger could achieve sales of 2.5 trillion won this year and 3.5 trillion won next year. He also presented specific sales targets by product. Remsima (active ingredient infliximab) is expected to generate sales of 900 billion won in North America and Europe combined this year, and although sales will decrease to 830 billion won next year due to the transition to Remsima SC, since Remsima SC is scheduled to be launched as a new drug 'Zimpentra' in the U.S., sales of over 600 billion won in the U.S. and 230 billion won in Europe are expected next year.

Chairman Seo particularly viewed the potential of Zimpentra highly. He said, "In the U.S., intravenous (IV) injections must be administered in injection rooms (chemo rooms) at general hospitals costing over $2,000 (about 2.64 million won), so I thought we needed to develop subcutaneous (SC) injections," adding, "Since it takes about two months to reschedule, it could provide patients with great freedom in their lives."

The Humira (adalimumab) biosimilar 'Yuflyma,' which debuted in the U.S. market last month, is expected to generate global sales of about 280 billion won next year. Chairman Seo projected, "We think a market share of about 20% in North America is reasonable, so sales of about 230 billion won are expected." Yuflyma recently secured access to 14% of the total market by being listed on the formulary of OptumRx, a key prescription benefit manager (PBM) for public insurance (Medicare) in the U.S. market.

Chairman Seo added, "At the end of this month, another 5% combining public and private insurance will be disclosed, and we are negotiating with payors covering about 10% of public insurance. If we negotiate with about five other insurers, we will reach a 40% target," emphasizing, "We will access up to 40% of the market, and even if we capture only half of that, we will maintain about a 20% market share."

Celltrion's Humira biosimilar 'Yuflyma'
[Photo by Celltrion Healthcare]

In addition, as sales growth of biosimilars such as Truxima, Herzuma, and Vegzelma continues steadily, Chairman Seo forecasted that total sales next year will reach 3.5 trillion won. He expects EBITDA to reach about 1.6 trillion won, achieving an operating profit margin of around 40%. He also mentioned that the operating profit margin will continue to grow, exceeding 50% in 2025 and 60% in 2026.

Regarding new drug development, which is positioned as the next growth engine, he expressed a commitment to developing obesity and diabetes treatments, which are currently the most focused areas in the global industry. Chairman Seo said, "(The development of obesity and diabetes treatments) is mainly led by Celltrion Pharm," adding, "We are developing peptide-based therapeutics." Notably, Novo Nordisk's 'Wegovy' (semaglutide) and Eli Lilly's 'Mounjaro' (tirzepatide), which have recently dominated the market with groundbreaking weight loss effects, are peptide-based drugs, as indicated by their ingredient names ending with '-tide.'

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