Celltrion posts record earnings on biosimilar growth

Celltrion on Thursday reported its highest annual earnings of 4.16 trillion won ($2.84 billion) in sales and 1.69 trillion won in operating profit for 2025 on the back of strong sales of new high-margin products.

According to the Korean biopharmaceutical firm, yearly sales and operating profit went up by 17 percent and 137.5 percent, respectively, from 2024, as the operating profit margin climbed to 28.1 percent, up 14.3 percentage points from the previous year.

Fourth-quarter earnings posted 1.33 trillion won in sales and 475.2 billion won in operating profit, up 25.1 percent and 142 percent on-year, respectively.

Celltrion said growth was led by a number of new biosimilar products, such as Remsima SC, Yuflyma, Vegzelma, Zymfentra, Steqeyma, Omlyclo and Stoboclo-Osenvelt, gaining traction across various markets worldwide. The firm logged 3.86 trillion won in global sales of biopharmaceuticals with new products accounting for about 54 percent of them.

Even though five of the new products -- Steqeyma, Omlyclo, Stoboclo-Osenvelt, Avtozma and Eydenzelt -- were either launched or gearing up for release in the second half of last year, Celltrion pointed out that they combined for 300 billion won in sales, offering a positive outlook for expanding market presence this year.

The company laid out its sales target for this year at 5.3 trillion won with 11 biosimilar products in the global market, as it plans to continue stable supply and expand market share based on region-specific strategies. Celltrion forecast the sales portion of new products to reach 70 percent by the end of this year.

According to Celltrion, the Branchburg biopharmaceutical manufacturing site in New Jersey, which Celltrion acquired at a cost of $330 million from Eli Lilly at the end of last year, will produce contract manufacturing organization sales right away as it will provide 678.7 billion won in biopharmaceuticals to Eli Lilly through 2029.

Celltrion said it aims to expand the current biosimilar product portfolio of 11 items to 41 by 2038, as the size of the global market for the new drugs is projected to surpass 400 trillion won.

“We achieved the highest performance ever last year based on synergy from the merger and market settlement of new products,” said a Celltrion official.

“We expect to continue the fast-growing trend this year as the effect of launching new products goes in full swing amid structural cost improvements. We will do our best to become a global big pharma by expanding biosimilar pipelines and securing new growth engines such as new drugs and (contract manufacturing organizations).”