Celltrion posts record earnings in Q3, buoyed by upbeat biosimilar sales

South Korean biopharmaceutical giant Celltrion said Tuesday it posted record earnings in the third quarter, largely buoyed by upbeat sales of biosimilar products and solid contract manufacturing orders.

Celltrion's revenue in the July-September period climbed 4.1 percent on-year to 672.3 billion won ($514 million). Operating profit also went up by 25.2 percent to 267.6 billion won during the same period, while the operating margin came to 39.8 percent.

Celltrion said sales of the company’s main biosimilar products contributed to the improved performance, continuing their upward trend in securing greater shares in key markets, especially in the US and Europe.

According to IQVIA, a drug market research company, Celltrion’s Remsima, a biosimilar drug used to treat autoimmune diseases, and its subcutaneous injection formulation, Remsima SC, held a combined 69.8 percent share in the five major infliximab markets in Europe, including Germany, the UK, France, Italy and Spain, in the second quarter.

The market shares of Celltrion's rituximab Truxima and breast cancer treatment biosimilar Herzuma hit 22.3 percent and 21.7 percent in Europe, respectively.

In the US, however, market shares of Remsima and Truxima both fell slightly to 29.9 percent in the second quarter, from 30.2 percent and 30.5 percent, respectively, in the previous quarter.

Celltrion said some 60 billion won in sales from its drug substance supply deal with Teva Pharmaceutical Industries also made a major contribution to the company’s record high performance in the third quarter.

In August 2022, Celltrion signed a 110-billion-won contract manufacturing deal with Israel-based generic drugmaker Teva Pharmaceutical Industries to supply drug substance for the latter’s Ajovy, a prescription medicine used for the preventive treatment of migraine in adults.

Celltrion also has predicted a positive outlook as the company expects to launch Remsima SC, or Zymfentra, in the US in 2024. The company currently expects annual sales of Zymfentra in the US to reach 600 billion won and grow to 3 trillion won by 2030.

The launch of Zymfentra will also help Celltrion to achieve its sales target of 12 trillion won by 2030.

“After Celltrion completes its merger with Celltrion Healthcare within the year, the integrated Celltrion will be able to take a step forward to its 12-trillion-won sales target by 2030,” an official from Celltrion said.