Samsung BioLogics, which enjoyed more than 50 percent revenue growth in the fourth quarter alone, is expected to record more than 600 billion won ($558 million) in sales this year, an analyst report said.

Seo Geun-hee and Lee Ji-su, analysts at KB Securities, said in the report that Samsung BioLogicsw’s annual sales are forecast to reach 627.5 billion won in 2018, up 36.5 percent compared to the 2017 revenue.

The report assumed that Samsung BioLogics’ first plant would have a 48 percent annual operation rate to manufacture 65 billion won worth of products, and the second plant, an 85 percent rate for 477.9 billion won. The third one, completed in November last year, would run at an 8 percent annual operation rate to reach 84.6 billion won sales, the analysts estimated.

“We can expect the third plant’s capacity utilization rate could increase in the first half of this year because the company recently won an order at the new plant,” the report said. “If the company gets a surprise winning of an additional contract, the second and third plants’ operation rate growth will be faster than expected.”

On Feb. 22, the contract drug manufacturing arm of Samsung won a 17.85 billion-won order from a U.S. drugmaker, whose name was not disclosed.

The Korean drugmaker had suffered a gloomy sales outlook because analysts had expected that its transferring of drug production from the first to the second factory would slow down the operation of the first one, thus hurting overall sales. However, the latest winning of the manufacturing order would offset a sales decline, the KB Securities’ report said.

Samsung Bioepis, a biopharmaceutical unit of Samsung BioLogics, is expected to see an 85 percent revenue growth this year to mark 583 billion won in sales, the report also noted.

As Samsung BioLogics is to release Bioepis’ Ontruzant, a biosimilar referencing breast cancer treatment Herceptin, in Europe in the first half of this year, the drug is expected to generate 95.8 billion won revenue, the report said. In the second half, the firm will also release Imraldi, a biosimilar referencing rheumatoid arthritis treatment Humira, in Europe, generating 25.3 billion won sales, according to the report.

Samsung BioLogics plans to release Imraldi in line with the expiration of Humira’s patent in Europe within this year. The company is also hoping to obtain approval for Ontruzant and Imraldi from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in the second half.

hwz@docdocdoc.co.kr

<© Korea Biomedical Review, All rights reserved.>