Celltrion Inc., Korea’s top biosimilar manufacturer, reported upbeat earnings for the first quarter of this year, thanks to brisk sales of its first biosimilar Remsima in overseas market.

The company announced Thursday its operating profit for the January-March period has soared more than 231 percent on year to 89.4 billion won ($79.2 million). Sales have jumped 81 percent to 196.6 billion won in the same period and net profit has zoomed a whopping 469 percent to 67.1 billion won.

At 1:50 p.m. Thursday, the Kosdaq-listed shares were down 1.24 percent at 94,300 won.

Revenue from Remsima is growing fast after the rheumatoid arthritis biosimilar was recently anchored in the U.S. market with steady sales across Europe, the company said. It hit the U.S. market under the name of Inflectra in November.

Remsima is marketed through subsidiary Celltrion Healthcare in Korea and 15 to 16 local distributors around the world including Pfizer Inc. in the U.S. and Europe.

Data showed Remsima took away more than 30 percent of the market occupied by Remicade, the original rheumatoid arthritis drug developed by Janssen during the first three months of this year. Over the same period, Merck & Co., the U.S. company selling Remicade in Europe, saw its Remicade revenue decline by 34 percent on year to $229 million.

Remsima is well on track in the U.S., with sales in December reaching $4 million and $17 million in the January-March period. According to Symphony Health, a U.S. healthcare information service provider, Remsima prescription sales came to $4.41 million in March, up 179 percent from $1.58 million in February, suggesting a steady increase in monthly sales.

Meanwhile, Celltrion recently started marketing of its cancer biosimilar drug Truxima in Europe. Sales data of the drug will be reflected in the company’s accounting books from the second half of this year. Truxima is a biosimilar version of blood cancer drug Rituxan marketed by Roche.

By Shin Chan-ok

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