Celltrion set a record for its best-ever second-quarter results this year, extending a growth trend focused on profitability.
Celltrion said on Aug. 2 that, on a consolidation basis, its preliminary second-quarter results came to 1.3 trillion won in sales and 430 billion won in operating profit.
Compared with the same period a year earlier, sales rose 35.2% and operating profit increased 77.3%, marking the strongest second-quarter performance on record, the company said. The operating margin improved sharply to about 33%, from about 25% a year earlier.
The company said, "This performance is not simply about expanding sales, but the result of a simultaneous shift to a portfolio centered on high-margin products and improvements in the cost structure."
In particular, the share of new high-margin products surpassed 60% of total sales, cited as a key factor driving profitability improvement.
The core growth engine is the new biosimilar lineup. Flagship products such as the autoimmune disease treatment Remsima SC (U.S. name Zymfentra), Yuflyma and Steqeyma have rapidly expanded their market share in the United States and Europe, driving growth.
In particular, Zymfentra continues to set new records for prescriptions in the U.S. market, and Steqeyma is also quickly increasing its share and has entered the upper tier of the market. The autoimmune disease treatment Aptozma and the bone disease treatments Stovoclo and Osenbelt are also gaining a foothold in the market, establishing themselves as new growth pillars.
In Europe, OMLYCLO, a first mover (the first product to enter the market) for allergic diseases, is maintaining its first-mover advantage.
Despite being a later entrant, the anticancer drug Vegzelma holds the No. 1 market share in key countries. The company projected that Yuflyma, Aptozma, and Stovoclo and Osenbelt have also entered a full-fledged phase of sales expansion and will act as growth drivers in the second half.
It said cost competitiveness improved as one-off expenses stemming from the merger were cleared, high-cost inventories were run down, amortization of development costs ended, and Production yield (Titer Improvement, improvement in cell culture efficiency) advanced at the same time. These factors lifted the operating margin to about 33%.
Given the characteristics of the biosimilar industry, results tend to grow further in the second half because large tender volumes in major countries and year-end inventory buildup concentrate seasonally. Accordingly, the company said second-half results are likely to exceed those of the first half, and expectations are rising for surpassing its annual targets.
Celltrion is accelerating not only biosimilars but also new drug development and capacity expansion. Major pipelines under development include CT-P55 (a Cosentyx biosimilar), CT-P70 and CT-P71 (designated Fast Track by the U.S. FDA). Fast Track is a program under the FDA (U.S. Food and Drug Administration) to expedite review procedures to shorten development time.
The company plans to build a portfolio of 18 biosimilars by 2030 and a total of 41 by 2038.
Capacity expansion is proceeding in parallel. In Korea, in addition to the existing 250,000-liter facility, it is pursuing an 180,000-liter expansion for Plants 4 and 5. It also decided to add 75,000 liters at its Branchburg, New Jersey, plant in the United States. This will increase U.S. production capacity to a total of 141,000 liters. The company said, "By expanding our U.S. production base, we will reduce supply chain risks (such as logistics disruptions) and tariff burdens, while securing a foundation to expand our global contract manufacturing organization (CMO) business."
A Celltrion official said, "The strategy of expanding new products and improving profitability is delivering tangible results," adding, "We will strengthen production capabilities and new drug development in tandem to raise our competitiveness to the level of global big pharma."