Celltrion's Q3 earnings boosted by Remsima sales in Europe

South Korean biopharmaceutical giant Celltrion Inc. announced 654.6 billion won ($478.2 million) in revenue and 213.8 billion won in operating profit on a consolidated basis during the third quarter, the company said in a preliminary report on Nov. 9.

If realized, the figures respectively increased by 60.6% and 28.1% from the same period last year, including the record-high quarterly revenue.

The strong earnings were boosted by Remsima (infliximab), a biosimilar referencing Janssen Pharmaceutical’s Remicade, targeting anti-inflammatory medication for immune-system diseases.

The intravenous injection type Remsima IV and subcutaneous injection type Remsima SC showed robust sales growth in Europe during the first half and second half of this year, respectively, a Celltrion official said.

The demand for the SC type rapidly increased thanks to its quick administration compared to the IV type, the official added. During the third quarter, the SC type achieved 27% and 16% infliximab market share in Germany and France, respectively.

The Korean big pharma is conducting phase 3 clinical trials for Remsima SC in the US, aiming to receive Food and Drug Administration (FDA) marketing approval as early as the end of this year.

Celltrion Group is expected to accelerate streamlining its governance structure, including merging its three affiliates, Celltrion, Celltrion Healthcare Co. and Celltrion Pharm Inc.

The group, accused of accounting fraud in December 2018, was fined 13 billion won for three affiliates' violations of accounting standards in March of this year. As it removed the major legal risk, investors are increasingly paying attention to its merger plan.

But a general meeting of shareholders to discuss the merger has not yet been scheduled and the plan is still being reviewed, a Celltrion official said.

Write to Jeong-Min Nam at peux@hankyung.com
Jihyun Kim edited this article.