Celltrion is widening its footprint in Vietnam, a small but fast-growing Southeast Asian market — a move that tells investors more about strategy than about this quarter's revenue.
Celltrion (068270.KS), South Korea's largest biosimilar developer, said on June 15 that it launched two cancer biosimilars in Vietnam on June 9 local time: Truxima (rituximab), used in blood cancers, and Vegzelma (bevacizumab), used in metastatic colorectal and breast cancer. The rollout came roughly three months after the company secured local marketing approval in March 2026, according to Celltrion's statement carried by Chosun Biz, Yonhap and Hankyung.
How material is it? Size it against the base
The honest answer for a portfolio manager is: not material on its own — and that is the point. Celltrion reported record FY2025 consolidated revenue of ₩4.16 trillion (about USD3.0 billion at ₩1,370/USD1), up 17% year-on-year, with operating profit surging 137.5% to ₩1.17 trillion (about USD853 million at ₩1,370/USD1) and an operating margin of 28.1%, per the company's results reported by KED Global and Seoul Economic Daily.
Vietnam's entire biopharmaceutical market was about USD7.3 billion in 2023, growing at more than 7% annually over the past decade, according to a Medpath market report. A four-product biosimilar portfolio in one ASEAN country is therefore a portfolio-deepening step, not a near-term needle-mover against a ₩4.16 trillion base. The launch raises Celltrion's Vietnam line-up to four products, joining the autoimmune treatment Remsima (infliximab) and the breast/gastric cancer treatment Herzuma (trastuzumab), per the company statement.
Why it still matters: the strategy it validates
The launch is a proof point for the direct-sales, tender-driven model Celltrion is using across "pharmerging" markets — emerging economies where pharmaceutical demand is growing rapidly. That same model underpinned the high-margin expansion behind 2025's profit jump: five newer products (Steqeyma, Stoboclo/Osenvelt, Omlyclo, Avtozma and Eydenzelt) together cleared ₩300 billion (about USD219 million) in combined annual revenue in their launch year, helped by U.S. formulary listings and European tender wins, the company said in results reported by Korea Biomedical Review.
Celltrion says it will reuse the hospital network and tender experience built around Herzuma to push the new oncology products — and it has a track record nearby to point to. Citing pharmaceutical market-research firm IQVIA, the company says Remsima leads its market in Singapore (96% share), Thailand (77%) and Malaysia (59%); Herzuma ranks first in Thailand (82%); and Truxima already holds top prescription share in Singapore (81%) and Thailand (74%). In Latin America, the company says Truxima holds roughly 80% in Ecuador and Remsima roughly 80% in both the Dominican Republic and Paraguay. These shares are self-reported via IQVIA data and were not independently verified for this article.
Precedent and the next data point
The Vietnam build-out is incremental by design. Celltrion launched Remsima in Vietnam in June 2024 and Herzuma in August 2024, per the Medpath report, and secured a one-year Remsima SC supply deal with Vietnam's largest military hospital plus a two-year Herzuma tender for the country's central and southern regions in August 2025, according to law firm Pearce IP. The new oncology pair extends that sequence rather than breaking new ground.
The question this launch does not answer is how much pharmerging markets actually contribute to the top line. Celltrion does not break out Vietnam or ASEAN revenue in its headline figures. The next concrete read will come with the company's Q2 2026 earnings, expected in August 2026, and with the planned follow-on launch of Remsima SC in Vietnam and product rollouts in Indonesia, where Celltrion established a subsidiary last year — milestones that would show whether the direct-sales model converts share leadership into disclosed, durable revenue.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice. Figures are sourced from company statements and the cited publications; currency conversions use an approximate rate of ₩1,370 per U.S. dollar unless otherwise noted. Market-share figures are self-reported by Celltrion via IQVIA and were not independently verified.
