Sam Chun Dang Pharm said on the 11th that on a consolidation basis, last year's operating profit turned to a surplus at 8.5 billion won, up 220.5% from a year earlier. Revenue in the same period was 231.8 billion won, up 9.9%.
The company said revenue from sales of the Eylea biosimilar, a macular degeneration treatment co-developed by U.S.-based Regeneron and Germany's Bayer, drove earnings growth.
According to Sam Chun Dang Pharm, despite an actual sales period of just over three months after the Canada launch at the end of September last year, the Eylea biosimilar alone recorded 9.7 billion won in sales and about 5.7 billion won in operating profit. That amounts to an operating margin of 60%.
The outlook for this year's results is also bright. The company said this year's firm purchase order (PO) volume for Europe and Canada rose 1.5 times from last year to 750,000 vials. Following the low-dose Eylea, the global contract for the 8 mg high-dose product is also in its final stages.
A company official said, "This turnaround to profit is significant in that it proves profitability that can offset the accounting amortization of Eylea biosimilar development costs, new pipeline research and development (R&D) expenses such as S-PASS, and investment expenses such as facility investments for long-acting injectables," adding, "This year, with 750,000 vials confirmed for supply, we expect to far exceed our internally set conservative guidelines."