April 16, 2024

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[THE INVESTOR] Celltrion Healthcare, the sales and marketing unit of Celltrion, profited from increased sales of its two biosimilar products that helped the company swing to a net profit of 77.5 billion won (US$68.8 million) in the second quarter from a 2.6 billion won loss in the same period last year. 

The Incheon-based company, which listed on the KOSDAQ market in July, attributed that recovery to strong sales growth of Remsima, its version of Johnson & Johnson’s rheumatoid arthritis med Remicade, and Truxima, a biosimilar referencing Roche’s blockbuster lymphatic cancer treatment Rituxan, according to a press release on Aug. 29.

Sales rose 152.4 percent on-year to 237.5 billion won while operating profit surged 631.5 percent to 53.4 billion won.

Truxima, which was launched in some European countries including the UK, Germany, Spain, Ireland and the Netherlands from April, has increased its market share robustly on the back of its first mover advantage, the company said. The knockoff has stolen away 30 percent of market share from the original drug in the UK and the Netherlands.

Celltrion’s first biosimilar product Remsima, also known as Inflectra in the US, continued to generate more revenue in Europe, especially in the UK and France. The company said its US distribution partner Pfizer’s orders worth 100 billion won for Inflectra also contributed to the positive quarterly results.

The company said its redemption of convertible bond purchased by Hospira in 2014 and weak won also helped drive net profit.

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