Nam Hyun-woo has worked as a staff writer at The Korea Times since 2013, mostly covering business and politics. He currently belongs to the Business Desk where he covers topics such as emerging tech, AI, ICT and Korea's chaebol community. Prior to joining the team, he was the paper's correspondent for the presidential office of Korea during the Yoon Suk Yeol and Moon Jae-in administrations.
Celltrion set to ramp up pharmacy biz in France with Gifrer acquisition
Celltrion's Plant 1 in Incheon / Courtesy of Celltrion
By Nam Hyun-woo
Celltrion has completed the integration of French health care company Gifrer and plans to strengthen cooperation between the two companies’ sales operations to create greater business synergies, the Korean biopharmaceutical group said Tuesday.
According to Celltrion, Chairman Seo Jung-jin visited Gifrer during his trip to France last week and explored ways to combine the French company’s pharmacy sales network with Celltrion’s products to generate tangible business results.
Established in 1912, Gifrer is a pharmacy and health care company with a sales network spanning more than 9,000 pharmacies and about 800 hospitals across France. Celltrion acquired the full stake of Gifrer in May.
Celltrion has rapidly expanded its European sales and marketing network by focusing on hospitals, medical professionals and tendering institutions, but its direct access to pharmacies has remained limited.
The company said the Gifrer’s pharmacy network has strategic value because it fills the gap in Celltrion’s direct sales network, allowing prescriptions initiated at hospitals to be linked to dispensing, administration and repeat purchases.
Celltrion expects subcutaneous injectable drugs, which patients can administer on their own, will benefit from the pharmacy channel. Since 2022, France has allowed pharmacists to substitute certain biologic drugs, making pharmacy networks and sales capabilities increasingly important for biosimilar companies.
Celltrion plans to use Gifrer’s pharmacy sales network to boost sales of its subcutaneous injectable drugs and broaden its biosimilar sales coverage as more products become eligible for pharmacy substitution. The company said it is preparing direct pharmacy sales of its bone disease treatment Stoboclo-Osenvelt, in line with the French regulatory and substitution schedule.
Celltrion said it will diversify Gifrer’s product portfolio by introducing biosimilars, generic drugs and health care products that do not compete directly with Celltrion products. Celltrion’s derma-cosmetic brand Zipiderm will also be launched in the French pharmacy cosmetics market early next year, with Gifrer handling sales and distribution.
“Following the acquisition, we have completed the necessary restructuring and are now ready to make a fresh leap forward,” a Celltrion official said. “We will focus on generating tangible results by combining Gifrer’s pharmacy network with Celltrion’s product competitiveness.”