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March 19, 2024

Celltrion’s earnings double on strong Remsima sales

PUBLISHED : July 26, 2017 - 16:14

UPDATED : July 26, 2017 - 16:14

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[THE INVESTOR] Celltrion said on July 26 it nearly doubled its consolidated second-quarter earnings from a year ago, aided by strong global sales of its biosimilar Remsima.

The Korean biopharmaceutical firm reported net income of 115.24 billion won (US$102.91 million) in the April-June period, up 93 percent from 59.59 billion won a year earlier. Its revenue increased 33 percent on-year to 246.14 billion won. 




The company said that earnings hit an all-time high boosted by growing global sales of Remsima, its copy version of Johnson & Johnson’s blockbuster rheumatoid arthritis treatment Remicade.

According to IMS Health, Remsima stole 42 percent market share of the original drug in Europe in the first quarter.

The drug is enjoying a first mover advantage as it is the world’s first biosimilar monoclonal antibody approved by medicine regulators in the US and Europe. However, it is facing imminent competition from rivals like Samsung Bioepis, Amgen and Sandoz which are expected to launch their own versions globally.

Cellltrion has shown its confidence in defeating competition with strong efficiency and cost optimization.

“In terms of profitability, we have further strengthened our cost competitiveness by improving yields in the manufacturing process,” Celltrion said in a press release. It posted an operating margin of 56.2 percent in the quarter.

The results came just after its crosstown rival Samsung Bioepis announced the US launch of Renflexis, its version of Remicade, to compete with Celltrion’s Inflectra, on July 24.

Samsung Bioepis and its partner Merck have priced Renflexis 30 percent lower than the branded drug while Celltrion and Pfizer sell Inflectra at a discount of 15 percent.

“We have secured sufficient cost-competitiveness that enables us to flexibly counter any price competition. The trust of physicians and patients in Remsima has been strengthened through extensive prescription data accumulated in the global market over the years,” it said.

Amid increasing biosimilar competition, Celltrion said it will maintain its leadership position by unveiling a new subcutaneous formulation of Remsima, undergoing late-stage clinical trials, in 2019.

The company added that Truxima, another biosimilar product referencing Roche’s Rituxan, also contributed to the earnings as it has begun selling the autoimmune disease treatment in some European countries from this year after receiving marketing approval in February.

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

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