Celltrion operating profit falls despite higher biosimilar sales

Celltrion posted a weaker-than-expected operating profit of 183 billion won ($137.7 million) in the second quarter, despite growing sales of biosimilar products.

Celltrion headquarters in Incheon

Celltrion posted a weaker-than-expected operating profit of 183 billion won ($137.7 million) in the second quarter, despite growing sales of biosimilar products.

The profit was down 10.1 percent on year, missing the market consensus of 198.4 billion won.

Revenues fell 12.1 percent to 524 billion won, also falling short of the 607.5 billion won market expectation.

Net profit stood at 151 billion won, missing the analyst estimate of 158 billion won.

"Profitability fell due to the low sales of chemical-based drugs, but sales of biosimilars rose 10.4 percent on year with expanded pipelines," Celltrion explained in Monday's statement.

The European market share for Remsima, a biosimilar to Janssen Biotech's Remicade, was 61.7 percent at the end of the first quarter of 2023, while the share for Truxima stood at 22.1 percent, followed by Herzuma's 19.2 percent.

Remsima’s market share in the United States stood at 30.2 percent, while Truxima had 30.5 percent.

Biosimilars, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), are biological products that are approved based on proof that they are highly similar to other FDA-approved products. The drugs have no clinically meaningful difference in terms of safety or effectiveness from the reference product but cost less.

Celltrion shares fell 1.6 percent to close at 154,000 won on Monday.

BY SARAH CHEA [chea.sarah@joongang.co.kr]