Celltrion Healthcare going public in South Korea later this month has set a target to boost sales by seven-fold to 5 trillion won ($4.36 billion) over the next three years, said the company’s chief executive.

The marketing and distribution subsidiary of the country’s pharmaceutical company Celltrion Inc. has enjoyed a surge in its earnings in recent years, mainly driven by the rapid growth of its parent company’s first self-developed product Remsima that has been selling in five major European markets in 2015. Operating profit soared 414.4 percent to reach 178.5 billion won in 2016 from 2014 with sales expanding by more than four times to hit 757.7 billion won over the same period. Net profit also skyrocketed a whopping 3,511.7 percent to 122.8 billion won.

“Sales of rheumatoid arthritis treatment Remsima and cancer drug Truxima are strengthening,” Kim Man-hoon, chief executive of Celltrion Healthcare, said in an interview with Maeil Business Newspaper. New products including breast cancer treatment Herzuma and the subcutaneous version of Remsima set for release next year would also help the company easily meet the sales target of 5 trillion won by 2020, according to Kim.

Founded on December 1999, Incheon-based Celltrion Healthcare is engaged in the distribution of biosimilar and biological medicines developed by Celltrion worldwide. Under the sales contract with Celltrion, it is also considered co-developer of all Celltrion products. It works in partnership with 34 companies around the world and sells Celltrion’s biosimilars to over 115 countries.

Celltrion Healthcare’s highly-anticipated debut on the Korea’s secondary Kosdaq market is scheduled on July 28. In what would be Korea’s third largest IPO this year, the company is offering 24.6 million shares at a price band of 32,500-41,000 won apiece to gather up 1 trillion won. Expected market capitalization once it goes public would be as high as 5.6 trillion won. The company embarked on a global road show Monday to tap demand and finalize the pricing. Public offering will take place on July 19-20.

By Song Gwang-sup

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