On the 18th, Celltrion announced that Celltrion Group Chairman Seo Jung-jin visited the company’s French subsidiary and Gifrer as part of a global sales field inspection for the second half of the year, which began last week. Chairman Seo reviewed the post-acquisition restructuring progress item by item and outlined a management strategy to translate Gifrer’s pharmacy sales network, combined with the competitiveness of Celltrion’s products, into tangible results.
While on site, Chairman Seo personally reviewed organizational operations, the status of the pharmacy sales network, the key product portfolio, and plans for sales collaboration between the French subsidiary and Gifre. He also urged the team to accelerate execution to convert secured sales assets into increased revenue and market share, and to expand the successful model established in France to other European markets.
Gifre maintains a sales network of approximately 9,000 pharmacies across France, a supply chain serving about 800 hospitals, and a product portfolio of approximately 140 types of over-the-counter (OTC) drugs, pharmacy-exclusive (DM) drugs, and dietary supplements.
Celltrion plans to stabilize Gifre’s existing business foundation while combining it with the direct-to-consumer biopharmaceutical sales capabilities accumulated by Celltrion France to establish a sales system that encompasses both hospitals and pharmacies.
While Celltrion’s direct sales system in Europe has grown rapidly, its sales network directly covering pharmacies had been limited. Accordingly, the pharmacy channel secured through the acquisition of Zipre has complemented the final touchpoint of the existing direct sales network. This holds significant strategic value as it enables prescriptions originating in hospitals to be connected all the way through to the actual dispensing, administration, and repeat purchase stages. In particular, the company believes that pharmacies can serve as key distribution touchpoints for subcutaneous (SC) injection formulations, which are administered directly by patients.
Celltrion plans to leverage Zifre’s pharmacy sales network to promote sales of SC-formulation drugs and, in anticipation of an increase in the scope of generic substitution in the future, expand the sales scope of its biosimilars. Accordingly, the company is first preparing for direct-to-pharmacy sales of the bone disease treatment “Stovoclo-Osenvelt” (active ingredient: denosumab) in alignment with French regulatory requirements and the schedule for generic substitution.
Efforts to create product synergies at the Celltrion Group level are also gaining momentum. Celltrion plans to launch “Zipiderm,” the derma-cosmetic brand of Celltrion Skin Cure, into the French pharmacy cosmetics market early next year. Zipre will handle local pharmacy sales and distribution.
Celltrion is positioning France as a test market for its direct-to-pharmacy business in Europe. After first verifying the performance and profitability of the integrated sales operations at Zipre, the company plans to gradually expand this business model to other European countries, tailoring it to each nation’s pharmaceutical distribution structure and biosimilar substitution policies.
Kim Dong-sik, Head of Global Operations for Celltrion’s European Region, stated, “Following the acquisition of Zipre, we have completed the necessary restructuring and are ready to take a new leap forward together with Celltrion.” He added, “Having reviewed the restructuring progress and sales strategies with senior management in France, we will now focus on combining Zipre’s pharmacy network with Celltrion’s product competitiveness to deliver tangible results.”
He added, “We will expand our portfolio to include not only our own products but also non-competing third-party products, and we will gradually roll out the pharmacy sales model—which has been proven effective in France—across Europe, adapting it to the regulatory frameworks of each country.”
