Celltrion's Q4 net profit nosedives 99.4% on biosimilar slump

The company logged 453 million won in net profit in the last three months of 2023, but did stay in the black for the whole year.

Celltrion founder and chairman, Seo Jung-jin, speaks during the Future Leaders' Camp event hosted by the Federation of Korean Industries in Gangneung, Gangwon. [FKI]

Celltrion's fourth-quarter net profit plunged 99.4 percent on year on the back of sluggish sales of biosimilars.

Net profit came to 453 million won ($340,218) in the last three months of 2023, a dramatic fall from 70.4 billion won a year ago, the company said in a regulatory filing on Thursday.

Operating profit for the October-December period fell 81.7 percent on-year to 18.4 billion won, and sales decreased 25.1 percent to 382.6 billion won.

For the whole of 2023, Celltrion reported a net profit of 539.7 billion won, down 0.5 percent from the previous year.

Yearly operating profit rose 0.7 percent on-year to 651.5 billion won last year, but annual revenue decreased 4.7 percent to 2.17 trillion won.

Celltrion said sales in its flagship biosimilar business decreased in the fourth quarter as it sold the minimum amount of its products to its sales and marketing affiliate Celltrion Healthcare Co. ahead of their planned merger.

The acquisition was completed in December as part of the company's broader plan to become a global drugmaker that produces both biosimilars and new drugs.

The company also plans to integrate its chemical drug-producing affiliate Celltrion Pharm later this year under the plan.

The company said, however, that its biosimilar drug sales jumped 11.6 percent on-year to 1.45 trillion won in the whole of 2023 thanks to high global demand for Remsima, used to treat autoimmune diseases, and the subcutaneous injection formulation of the drug, Remsima SC.

Celltrion's other blockbuster biosimilars, Truxima and Herzuma, also had a market share of 23 percent and 29 percent in Europe, respectively.

The company said it expects to see robust growth this year with the diversification of its pipeline and the development of new drugs and biosimilars.

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 meaningful difference clinically in safety or effectiveness from the reference product, but cost less.

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