[THE INVESTOR]  HMC Investment & Securities estimated Celltrion’s shareholder value at 13.3 billion won (US$ 11.92 billion). It also expected the firm’s annual sales to rise 11.1 percent to 670.2 billion won this year, while operating profit increases 3.5 percent to 268 billion won.

The brokerage said in a report that this is based on projections that Celltrion’s Remsima, the world’s first true biosimilar monoclonal antibody, would undermine even more market share of the original product, Remicade.

Rituximab, another biosimilar developed by Celltrion, is scheduled to receive a sales permit in Europe in November. Sales are expected to begin in the first quarter of 2017.

Currently, around 97 percent of Celltrion’s sales are derived from overseas, according to the firm’s regulatory filings in the second quarter this year.

By Kim Ji-hyun (jemmie@heraldcorp.com)