What is the strategy of Celltrion Chairman Seo Jung-jin, who created the '1 trillion blockbuster', to achieve 'KRW 10 trillion in sales within 3 years'?

[Korea Financial Times, Kim Nayoung] Celltrion Chairman Seo Jung-jin promised to achieve KRW 5 trillion in sales next year and 10 trillion won within 3 years, and attention is focused on his methodology. With the performance of the new drug Zimfentra (Remsima SC), which grew into a '1 trillion blockbuster' this year, the plan is to transform into a new drug development company that surpasses biosimilars (biopharmaceutical generic drugs), which were the existing growth engine.

According to industry sources on the 3rd, Chairman Seo Jung-jin said at an investor meeting in Hong Kong on the 27th of last month, "We are expected to achieve KRW 3.5 trillion in sales this year. Our goal for next year is KRW 5 trillion."

Chairman Seo's confidence comes from Remsima. Remsima is an infliximab-based immunotherapy drug in a subcutaneous injection (SC) formulation. Chairman Seo began development in 2006 and received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 10 years. This is the first product in the world to successfully convert infliximab, which previously existed only as an intravenous (IV) injection, into a SC form.

Ramsima has been evaluated as changing the lives of patients with its simple administration method, and has rapidly spread in global markets such as Europe. Ramsima has taken the top spot in market share in just five years since its launch, surpassing the original drug, Johnson & Johnson's 'Remicade'. According to pharmaceutical market research firm IQVIA, the Ramsima product group accounted for 74% market share in the five major European countries (EU5) as of the fourth quarter of last year. It was launched as a new drug in the US in March of this year in recognition of its differentiation, and has recently signed a contract with prescription drug management companies such as ExpressScripts to supply the product.

Ramsima is certain to exceed KRW 1 trillion in sales this year. As of the third quarter of last year, Ramsima's cumulative sales were KRW 979.7 billion. Considering that Ramsima's quarterly sales are approximately KRW 300 billion, annual sales this year are expected to reach KRW 1.2 trillion. It is the first time in the 130-year history of the domestic pharmaceutical and bio industry that a single product has exceeded 1 trillion won in sales.

Chairman Seo is challenging KRW 5 trillion in sales next year based on the cash cow called Ramsima. He said confidently, "We sold more than KRW 1 trillion worth of Ramsima this year. I think it will not be difficult to sell more than KRW 1 trillion in 2025 as well." He continued, "Our goal is to achieve a total of KRW 5 trillion in sales, including KRW 400 billion for Truxima (blood cancer treatment) and KRW 200-300 billion for the remaining products."


Chairman Seo is drawing a bigger picture by expanding the business model. He plans to go beyond the biosimilar field and enter the contract research, development and manufacturing (CRDMO) business, including new drugs. This is a model in which Celltrion provides basic research to customers by turning technologies it has secured, such as messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) and microbiome, into services.

Chairman Seo said, “Celltrion started with biosimilars, but it is no longer a specialized company for biosimilar products,” and “It has more solid value than any other pharmaceutical company. Please view it as a company that is prepared for the present and the future.”

It seems to be a strategy to get ahead of the curve in the increasingly overheated rather than just staying there. Chairman Seo has been emphasizing the development of new drug for a long time. In the early stages of the business, the company started with the contract manufacturing (CMO) model, but as it accumulated development know-how, it learned the competitiveness of new drugs, such as high pricing and patent protection.

Accordingly, Chairman Seo plans to establish research institutes in the US, India, and Europe and develop various modalities (treatments) such as multiple antibodies, vaccines, and microbiomes. Antibody-drug conjugate (ADC)-based candidate substances are already under development. Chairman Seo also revealed plans to enter Phase 1 clinical trials next year for half of the six ADC candidates currently under development.

As the first step toward CRDMO, we will first focus on contract development and manufacturing (CDMO), which is the current industry trend. This month, we decided to establish a 100% subsidiary CDMO corporation with KRW 1.5 trillion in funds. Starting next year, we plan to start construction on a CDMO plant with a total capacity of 200,000 liters in Korea and achieve sales by 2028.

Chairman Seo said, “We will be able to provide deeper and broader services than existing CRDMO companies. Full-scale sales will occur in 2028,” and emphasized, “We will achieve sales of KRW 5 trillion next year, KRW 7 trillion in 2026, and KRW 10 trillion in 2027, and achieve results without the excuse of being a bio company.”

Kim Nayoung, Korea Finacial Times (steaming@fntimes.com)