Operating profit slows to 47.6 billion won
Down 16% from the previous year
Yuhan Corporation has become the first traditional pharmaceutical company to surpass 2 trillion won in sales last year.
According to Yuhan Corporation's disclosure on the 12th, the company's consolidated sales last year increased by 11.2% compared to the previous year (1.8589 trillion won), reaching 2.0677 trillion won. Operating profit was 47.6 billion won, down 16.2%.
The increase in Yuhan Corporation's sales was thanks to the milestone payments from the domestic 31st new drug, the non-small cell lung cancer treatment 'Reclaza'.
Yuhan Corporation introduced the Reclaza candidate substance from the domestic bio company Oscotec in 2015, conducted its own clinical trials, and then re-licensed the global development and sales rights (excluding Korea) of Reclaza to Innovative Medicine, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson (formerly Janssen), for $1.255 billion (about 1.8 trillion won).
In August last year, the combination therapy of Innovative Medicine's antibody drug Livrivant and Reclaza received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). With this approval, Yuhan Corporation received a milestone payment of $60 million (about 87 billion won) from Innovative Medicine. Reclaza is the first domestically developed anticancer drug to receive FDA approval in the U.S.
However, the fourth-quarter performance was somewhat sluggish. Fourth-quarter sales were 496.1 billion won, and operating loss was 19 billion won. Sales decreased by 17.1% compared to the previous quarter, and operating profit turned to a loss. The milestone payment for Reclaza was not reflected in the fourth quarter, and research and development (R&D) expenses increased.
Yuhan Corporation recorded license revenue of 98.1 billion won in the third quarter, but license revenue in the fourth quarter was only 3.9 billion won. On the other hand, R&D investment in the fourth quarter was 73.9 billion won, an increase of 30.8 billion won compared to the same period last year. The quarterly loss is considered temporary due to increased R&D expenses.
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