Overseas sales and royalty revenue from in-house developed new drugs emerged as the key growth driver in the first-quarter earnings of major Korean pharmaceutical companies this year. Amid intensifying generic competition and drug price reduction pressure at home, blockbuster drugs such as Leclaza and Alyglo are underpinning earnings improvement and reinvestment in research and development (R&D).
According to the Financial Supervisory Service's electronic disclosure system on Friday, GC Biopharma posted preliminary first-quarter consolidated revenue of 435.5 billion won and operating profit of 11.7 billion won, up 13.5% and 46.3% year-on-year, respectively. The earnings improvement was led by Alyglo, an immunoglobulin blood product launched in the U.S. market. Alyglo recorded 34.9 billion won in sales in the first quarter, roughly four times the figure from the same period last year. The company expects Alyglo's quarterly sales growth to continue, as plasma fractionation products were included in the duty-free list under the U.S. tariff policy announced in April.
Yuhan Corporation, which holds Leclaza, Korea's flagship blockbuster lung cancer drug, also sustained its growth trajectory. Yuhan's first-quarter revenue and operating profit rose 7.2% and 37.3% year-on-year to 526.8 billion won and 8.8 billion won, respectively. While the results fell short of market estimates due to delayed receipt of European milestone payments for Leclaza, expectations for overseas sales royalties remain strong. According to Johnson & Johnson (J&J), which handles global sales of Leclaza, first-quarter sales of the Leclaza and Rybrevant combination therapy reached $257 million (approximately 377.4 billion won), up 82.7% year-on-year, suggesting an expansion of Yuhan's royalty income going forward.
HK inno.N posted solid results driven by overseas sales of K-CAB. The company's first-quarter revenue and operating profit rose 4.6% and 30.8% year-on-year to 258.7 billion won and 33.2 billion won, respectively. Domestic K-CAB sales in the first quarter fell 5.4% year-on-year to 41.2 billion won, but exports grew 34.4% to 4.4 billion won. In addition, overseas royalty income from China and other markets is compensating for the domestic sales slowdown and boosting the company's cash-generating capacity.
SK Biopharmaceuticals (326030.KS) achieved its highest-ever quarterly earnings, driven by the growth of Cenobamate (marketed in the U.S. as Xcopri), an innovative epilepsy treatment. First-quarter revenue and operating profit surged 57.8% and 249.7% year-on-year to 227.9 billion won and 89.8 billion won, respectively. Cenobamate's U.S. sales in the first quarter rose 48.4% from a year earlier to 197.7 billion won, leading overall revenue growth.
Such in-house developed new drugs are expected to drive global exports and royalty inflows, raising expectations for second-half earnings. "As domestic drug price cuts and generic competition continue, the importance of in-house developed new drugs with overseas sales will only grow," an industry official said.
Accordingly, pharmaceutical companies are channeling the cash generated by their blockbuster drugs back into R&D to secure next-generation growth engines. HK inno.N is reorganizing its R&D division and accelerating efforts to discover "the next K-CAB," aiming to improve an earnings structure heavily dependent on K-CAB. Its operating cash flow last year reached 162 billion won, up 53% from the previous year. During the same period, R&D investment stood at 85.9 billion won, meaning roughly half of its cash inflow was directed into research and development.
SK Biopharmaceuticals also unveiled plans at its recent earnings-linked R&D session to expand its pipeline in radiopharmaceutical therapy (RPT) and targeted protein degradation (TPD), leveraging its competitiveness in the central nervous system (CNS) field. "It is a concept of reinvesting the revenue generated through Cenobamate into future growth drivers," a company official said. "We have entered a virtuous cycle in which profits rise alongside expanded investment in new pipelines."
Experts assessed that a single competitive new drug is emerging not just as a short-term earnings booster but as a mid-to-long-term growth foundation that will sustain a company's business a decade from now. "Cenobamate's expanding position in the epilepsy treatment market is leading to R&D investment, forming a virtuous cycle," said Heo Hye-min, analyst at Kiwoom Securities.
