April 20, 2024

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[THE INVESTOR] Celltrion has signed a 53.25 billion won (US$45.94 million) deal with its overseas marketing affiliate Celltrion Healthcare to sell its biosimilar Remsima, the firm said on Jan. 26.

The contract size is based on the purchase orders for the copycat version of Johnson & Johnson’s Remicade that Celltrion Healthcare has received overseas in January. 

Celltrion Healthcare conducts worldwide marketing, sales and distribution of biosimilar products developed by its affiliate Celltrion.

The figure is about double that of 28.4 billion won in the same period last year.

In October last year, total accumulated exports of Remsima exceeded 1 trillion won, four years since the pharmaceutical firm shipped the first batch of its rheumatoid arthritis treatment drug in 2012.

Meanwhile, Celltrion pledged that it will “improve efficiency of product management and better track inventory levels,” by signing supply deals with Celltrion Healthcare every month to disclose the value of export orders clearly, the company told to its shareholders on the website on Jan. 26. It used to ink the deals on quarterly-basis.

Celltrion Healthcare’s large inventory of unsold drugs, which were purchased from Celltrion, has been one of the issues that raised investors concerns.

The move also comes as Celltrion is preparing for a full-fledged multi-production system, as its new biosimilar products Truxima and Herzuma are soon to hit European markets.

By Park Han-na (hnpark@heraldcorp.com)