Yuhan will likely record remarkable earnings growth in the second half of this year thanks to the launch of its non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) treatment, lazertinib, according to a local brokerage.
Daeshin Securities said so in a recent report, which predicted that major Korean pharmaceutical companies' performance would be boosted by recognizing new products’ sales and peak seasonal demands.
As major scheduled events of large Korean pharmaceutical companies in the second half of the year, Daeshin cited the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)’s approval of Yuhan’s lapatinib and its consequent launch in the largest pharmaceutical market worldwide and the U.S. sales of Celltrion’s Zymfentra. In particular, the brokerage expected Yuhan to show strong growth because of the income from milestones after the launch of lapatinib.
Daeshin expected the FDA to approve lazertinib in August, nearly six years after the technology was transferred to Janssen in 2018.
In February, the FDA prioritized the combination of lazertinib and amivantamab. Janssen has filed for approval in the U.S., Europe, and China for the combination of lazertinib + amivantamab, and it expects to expand the number of approved countries and launch later this year.
"With the FDA approval of lazeritinib in the second half of the year and the momentum of its launch in the U.S., Yuhan is expected to become the first Korean company to successfully transfer technology to Big Pharma and commercialize the new drug globally," said Lee Hee-young, an analyst at Daeshin Securities.
Lee continued, "Yuhan is expected to utilize the royalty cash flow to strengthen its new drug pipeline and level its corporate value accordingly. The phase 1 clinical trial results of YH35324 for chronic idiopathic urticarial, an allergy treatment, is also scheduled in the second half of the year, brightening the outlook for another technology export.”
Daewoo Securities also saw that sales of Celltrion's autoimmune disease drug Zymfentra, launched in the U.S. in March, will be fully recognized in the second half of the year and could drive earnings growth. In addition, the launches of Stelara biosimilar, Eylea, and Zolair biosimilar are expected to drive Celltrion’s sales growth in the second half year.
The report expected Hanmi Pharmaceutical to mark solid earnings growth to continue in the year's second half due to the peak demand season. Profit is expected to improve due to higher sales of dyslipidemia drug Rosuzet and hypertension drug Amosartan, which are high-margin products, and the entry of new-pipeline obesity drug candidate HM15275 (LA-GLP-1/GCG/GIP) into phase 1 clinical trials. It also cited the announcement of phase 1 liver failure results for the MASH drug Efinopegdutide (GLP-1/GCG) and phase 1/2 results for acute myeloma drug Tuspetinib as noteworthy events.
The report noted that Dong-A ST is nearing the end of phase 2a of DA-1241 (GPR119) for MASH and phase 1 of DA-1726 (GLP-1/GCG) for obesity. It also cited the upcoming EU launch of DBM-3115, another biosimilar to Stelara, as a growth driver for Dong-A ST.
The report also highly evaluated HK inno.N, which is looking forward to the release of K-CAB's phase 3 results in non-erosive esophagitis in the U.S., and HanAll Biopharma, which is awaiting phase 3 results for batoclimab for myasthenia gravis (MG) and phase 2 results for chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP).