Celltrion made an announcement on Aug. 7 that it recorded 428.8 billion won $363 million) in sales, 181.8 billion won ($154 million) in operating profit, and 42.4 percent in operating profit in the second quarter.
This is 82.5% increase in sales and 118% rise in operating profit compared to the same period last year, the biggest quarterly performance for both sales and operating profit.
"The U.S. market share of Truxima, a blood cancer treatment launched in the U.S. in November last year, has risen sharply and production efficiency of its flagship products such as Remsima and Truxima has improved due to the full-fledged operation of its plant No. 1 expansion facility," said the company.
According to IQVIA, a pharmaceutical market research firm, the Celltrion’s market share of the European market in the first quarter of this year was 57 percent for Remsima, 40 percent for Truxima and 19 percent for Herzuma.
The Remsima SC, which started selling in various parts of Europe in February this year, is also expecting a rise in sales as it received additional approval for the inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in July following the existing rheumatoid arthritis (RA).
In the U.S., the largest drug market, Celltrion is rapidly penetrating the market, focusing on anti-cancer biosimilars.
According to the medical information provider Symphony Healthcare, Truxima, which was launched in November last year, had a 16.4 percent share of the U.S. market in the second quarter of this year.
It has been growing rapidly since it recorded a double-digit market share six months after its release. Herzuma, a breast and stomach cancer treatment, has been continuously targeting markets since its release in March.
The autoimmune disease treatment, Remsima, is also growing steadily in the U.S. with a 10.5 percent market share in the second quarter of this year.
In the second quarter of this year, the company has made its first major acquisition and merger (M&A) since its foundation. Last June, the company took over a multinational pharmaceutical company Takeda Pharmaceuticals International AG’s 18 products of specialist drugs and generic drug brands in the Asia-Pacific region for a total of 332.4 billion won to strengthen its R&D capabilities in the global chemical and drug business sector.
This acquisition deal is also significant in terms of growth strategy in which Celltrion will become a global pharmaceutical bio company while providing an opportunity to localize essential treatments for diabetes and high blood pressure, which have been highly dependent on imports, and seeking synergy with insulin biosimilars under development.
Celltrion is also working hard to develop a COVID-19 antibody treatment CT-P59. The company received approval from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety in July for the Investigational New Drug (IND) of the Corona 19 antibody treatment, which is being developed as a national project with the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and is currently carrying out the first phase of clinical trials in Korea.
The first phase of the clinical trial will be carried out on 32 healthy subjects and will be completed within the third quarter.
"Despite changes in the business environment caused by the spread of COVID-19, sales and profits in the second quarter have all grown by a large margin," said an official of Celltrion. "We will do our best to maintain sustainable growth by taking advantage of future growth engines such as development of follow-up products, global chemical projects, and COVID-19 treatments."
