South Korean biopharmaceuticals company Celltrion is expecting a rapid growth of its business this year, as sales of its biosimilars are likely to take off in the US and Europe, according to the company’s founding Chairman Seo Jeong-jin.
“I believe that 2017 will be an important year that marks the beginning of Celltrion’s rapid growth,” said Seo during an event in Seoul on Monday to commemorate the company’s 15th anniversary.
“We will continue to leap forward for greater growth without losing sight of our initial goals and humble beginnings,” the Celltrion chairman said, expressing gratitude to company employees for their dedication and hard work.
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Celltrion founder and Chairman Seo Jeong-jin (Celltrion) |
Founded in 2002, Celltrion is a forerunner in developing biosimilars -- cheaper, near replicas of biologic drugs that have lost patent protection. Having jumped into this new field of medicine earlier than others, the firm became a first mover in commercializing its copycat drugs across the world, it said.
Celltrion was the first to develop and score the European Medicines Agency’s approval of a biosimilar referencing the blockbuster rheumatoid arthritis treatment Remicade in 2013. It began exclusively selling its Remicade biosimilar, Remsima, in the region from February 2015.
Last year, the Korean drugmaker obtained the US Food and Drug Administration’s approval for its Remicade biosimilar, commercializing the drug from November 2016 via its US partner Pfizer. It is currently the only company selling a biosimilar referencing Remicade in the US.
In February this year, Celltrion scored the EMA’s approval of Truxima, its biosimilar referencing Roche’s lymphatic cancer drug Rituxan. The drug is slated to hit European markets from the second quarter, according to the company.
As sales of Remsima and Truxima begin in both Europe and the US this year, Celltrion is expected to rake in new profits and strengthen its presence in the up-and-coming market for biosimilars, the company said.
Looking ahead, Celltrion plans to file Truxima for review by the US FDA early this year. It has also submitted a third biosimilar referencing Herceptin, Herzuma, to the EMA for review, and is planning to file the drug for approval by the FDA in the future as well.
“With our first-mover product portfolio led by Remsima, Truxima and Herzuma, the launch of our additional biosimilars and the further development of our up-and-coming new drugs, we will draw closer to our stated vision to become one of the world’s top 10 biopharma companies,” Celltrion said.
By Sohn Ji-young (
jys@heraldcorp.com)
