KB News Desk
New biosimilars put company on track to beat annual guidance
Celltrion has turned in yet another record quarterly earnings report on growing sales of its newer biosimilar portfolio and improving manufacturing efficiency.
According to the Korean biopharmaceutical company on Monday, it logged 1.4 trillion won ($950 million) in sales and 451.8 billion won in operating profit in the April to June period, up 45 percent and 86.3 percent, respectively, from the same period in 2025. The company previously posted record-setting sales of 1.145 trillion won and an operating profit of 321.9 billion won in the first quarter.
The final results exceeded the company’s preliminary earnings announced earlier in July, with revenue revised up by 93.7 billion won and operating profit by 21.8 billion won.
Celltrion said the financial performance was underpinned by continued growth of newer, higher-margin biosimilar products, whose sales climbed 76 percent from a year earlier to account for 65 percent of the company’s total biopharmaceutical sales.
According to the firm, its combined quarterly sales of five recently launched products — Eydenzelt, Avtozma, Omlyclo, Stoboclo-Osenvelt and Steqeyma — exceeded 300 billion won for the first time, rising 49 percent from the previous quarter.
Celltrion added that the cost of sales ratio fell to 38 percent, improving by 5.4 percentage points from a year earlier and by 2.1 percentage points from the previous quarter, reflecting a richer product mix, lower inventory costs and improved manufacturing efficiency. Even with research and development expenses for follow-on biosimilars and novel drug candidates, the company yielded an operating margin of 32.4 percent
Looking ahead, Celltrion said it expected the growing momentum to keep strengthening in the second half as newly launched products gain wider market access, supplies increase under public procurement contracts in Europe and reimbursement coverage expands in the United States. According to the company, its eventual earnings for 2026 are on pace to surpass the projections made earlier in the year: 5.3 trillion won in sales and 1.8 trillion won in operating profit.
On top of developing biosimilars referencing blockbuster therapies such as Ocrevus, Cosentyx, Taltz, Keytruda and Darzalex to expand its biosimilar portfolio to 18 products by 2030, Celltrion highlighted that it was also working on novel drug candidates in areas including antibody-drug conjugates, multispecific antibodies and obesity therapies.
“Our second-quarter results demonstrated Celltrion’s cash generation capability and business competitiveness, as we maintained an operating margin of more than 30 percent while continuing to invest in research and development for future growth,” a Celltrion official said.
“We will continue to reinvest stable cash flows generated from our biosimilar business into follow-on products and novel drug development, striving to exceed our annual performance targets and enhance our long-term corporate value.”
