Seo Jung-jin "Annual Sales Target of 12 Trillion Won Is Conservative... Ready with Funds for Major Purchases"

Press Conferences Held Consecutively After Merger Success
'1 Trillion' Prepared by Jumaecheong…"No Problem Even If Fully Accepted"

US New Drug 'Jimpenetra'…"Up to 7 Trillion Sales Possible"
Holdings Listing Also in Preparation…"Will Become an Investment Company"

"Even if the opposing shareholders exercise all their stock purchase rights, we have the funds prepared accordingly."

"If you ask me to explain the sales targets, you can consider that I have taken a very conservative view. These are numbers I have personally verified. When speaking on behalf of the group, I must speak responsibly."

Seo Jung-jin, Chairman of Celltrion, is speaking at the Celltrion Group 2023 Press Conference held on the 25th at Park One Tower, Yeouido-dong, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

Seo Jung-jin, Chairman of the Celltrion Group, expressed this at a press conference held on the 25th in Yeouido, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, reaffirming his determination to complete the merger. As the merger between Celltrion and Celltrion Healthcare is gaining momentum, he addressed concerns about the exercise of stock purchase rights, which have been pointed out as obstacles, saying, "I don't think many will exercise them," and "Since the funds are already prepared, even if we accept all the possible oppositions, it shouldn't be a big problem, so we have eliminated the uncertainty." He explained that the group has sufficient funds prepared overall and intends to accept all claims.

Earlier, on the 23rd, Celltrion and Celltrion Healthcare held an extraordinary shareholders' meeting in Songdo, Incheon, and approved the merger agenda between the two companies. This was achieved with strong support from most attending shareholders. Major voting advisory firms had previously expressed support citing reasons such as 'improving governance,' and small shareholders also actively placed approval advertisements, so as expected, the approval at the shareholders' meeting went smoothly. The merger between the two companies is scheduled to take place on December 28.

Seo Jung-jin, Chairman of Celltrion Group, is speaking ahead of the Celltrion extraordinary general meeting held on the 23rd in Songdo, Incheon.
[Photo by Lee Chun-hee]

However, on the day of the shareholders' meeting, news emerged that the National Pension Service, the second-largest shareholder of Celltrion (7.43%), abstained from voting on the agenda citing the exercise of stock purchase rights, bringing the stock purchase rights issue to the forefront as a potential hurdle. Stock purchase rights are rights guaranteed under commercial law that allow shareholders opposing matters such as mergers to request the company to buy their shares at a certain price.

Initially, Celltrion Group announced a total stock purchase rights exercise limit of 1 trillion KRW. If this limit is exceeded, the merger could become difficult unless additional funding is secured. The problem is that the current stock prices of both companies have been below the stock purchase exercise prices. The exercise prices are 150,813 KRW for Celltrion and 67,251 KRW for Celltrion Healthcare. Fortunately, following news of Celltrion Group's share buyback and cancellation, the market prices on that day were similar, at 150,500 KRW and 67,500 KRW respectively. Moreover, since Chairman Seo personally confirmed his intention to secure all necessary funds and accept all claims regardless of the amount, it is expected that this will not be a major obstacle.

Sales Front-runner 'Jimpentra', Confident in at Least 3 Trillion KRW Sales: "Annual Sales Target of 12 Trillion KRW, Conservative Goal"

Chairman Seo also firmly stated that after the merger is completed, he will definitely achieve the integrated Celltrion's goal of "35 billion KRW in sales next year and an EBITDA target of 12 trillion KRW in annual sales by 2030 as a global big pharma." The core of this is the recently approved new drug in the U.S., 'Jimpentra' (the U.S. name for Remsima SC). Seo raised the previously expected 3 trillion KRW sales forecast for Jimpentra in 2030 to 5 trillion KRW.

Considering the high dosing convenience of the subcutaneous injection (SC) and the market share increase effect confirmed earlier in Europe through substitution of existing drugs, he expressed confidence that sales could reach 3 trillion KRW within three years and up to 7 trillion KRW at maximum. Additionally, since Jimpentra has been approved as a new drug, he shared plans to significantly reduce discounts previously given for biosimilar sales and raise sales by pricing it similarly to competitors.

He also emphasized that the goal of "5 trillion KRW in new drug sales by 2030," including Jimpentra, is steadily progressing. Currently, Celltrion is actively securing modality platforms such as oral antibody therapeutics, bispecific antibodies, antibody-drug conjugates (ADC), and messenger RNA (mRNA). Chairman Seo said, "These are the most promising platforms currently available," and added, "If new platforms emerge, we will also acquire them."

Among these, the oral antibody therapeutic in collaboration with Lani Therapeutics began Phase 1 clinical trials last month in Australia based on 'Stelara (Ustekinumab).' Kim Sung-hyun, Director of Celltrion's Medical Headquarters, said, "Dosing has been completed, and we expect to see results in the first quarter of next year," adding, "Based on animal experiment data so far, we believe the completeness is high." He also mentioned that continuous additional collaborations are being steadily considered. Chairman Seo shared future plans, saying, "Next year, we will conduct one more oral antibody therapeutic clinical trial, and one more bispecific antibody and immunotherapy will be launched," and "In the year after next, four ADC products will be released."

Regarding biosimilars, he emphasized that they will significantly expand the current pipeline to secure a total of 22 blockbuster biosimilars by 2030 to achieve the previously stated sales targets. Chairman Seo said about these goals, "When speaking on behalf of the group, I must speak responsibly. These are very conservative estimates," and added, "The biosimilar sales figures are based on 500 billion KRW from new products and 200 to 300 billion KRW from existing products."

Seo Jung-jin, Chairman of Celltrion, is speaking at the Celltrion Group 2023 Press Conference held on the 25th at Park One Tower, Yeouido-dong, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

Regarding company operations after the merger, he announced plans to complete a three-company merger including Celltrion Pharm following the merger of the two companies within next year, and also to pursue the listing of Celltrion Holdings. Chairman Seo revealed the investment strategy, saying, "After listing Celltrion Holdings, we will conduct a large-scale rights offering," and "That company will focus on strategic investments (SI) to create a bio-healthcare fund and invest in line with the holding company's nature."