Chairman Seo Jungjin Conducts First On-site Inspection After Gifrer Acquisition... Celltrion Launches 'Direct Pharmacy Sales'

On-site Review of Integration Completion in France
Expansion of Product Sales Utilizing Network of 9,000 Pharmacies
Gradual Rollout Across Europe Following Validation in France

Celltrion has completed the post-merger integration process of Gifrer, a French healthcare company, and is now accelerating its expansion into the European market by leveraging Gifrer’s pharmacy distribution network. Seo Jungjin, Chairman of Celltrion Group, personally visited France to review Gifrer’s organizational restructuring and sales network, urging the teams to create tangible sales results by combining Celltrion’s direct sales network for biopharmaceuticals with Gifrer’s pharmacy channels.

On August 18, Celltrion announced that Chairman Seo had recently visited its French subsidiary and Gifrer as part of his global field inspection of sales sites for the second half of the year. During the visit, Chairman Seo examined organizational operations, the status of the pharmacy sales network, the main product portfolio, and plans to integrate operations between Celltrion’s French subsidiary and Gifrer.

Seo Jungjin, Chairman of Celltrion, is attending the 'National Growth Fund Strategy Committee Meeting' held at the Industrial Bank of Korea in Yeouido, Seoul, on December 11 last year, delivering opening remarks. Photo by Dongju Yoon

Gifrer has a pharmacy sales network that reaches approximately 9,000 locations throughout France, a hospital supply network of about 800 institutions, and a portfolio of more than 140 over-the-counter (OTC) and pharmacy medicines (DM), as well as dietary supplements.

Since the acquisition of Gifrer, Celltrion has been overhauling overall business functions, including building collaborative frameworks, workforce management, and product-specific sales strategies between the two organizations. With the necessary restructuring completed, Celltrion stated that it is now positioned to go beyond the stable operation of Gifrer’s existing business and begin creating synergies with Celltrion’s own products.

Chairman Seo emphasized the importance of translating these newly acquired sales assets into increased sales and market share, rather than focusing solely on the acquisition itself. He also urged that the successful model developed in France should be rapidly expanded to other European markets.

Celltrion Gains a New 'Pharmacy Channel'

Celltrion’s direct sales in Europe, which have grown rapidly through hospitals, healthcare professionals, and bidding agencies, had previously lacked a robust network for directly covering pharmacies. With the acquisition of Gifrer’s pharmacy channel, Celltrion now compensates for the last remaining gap in its direct sales network, allowing prescriptions initiated in hospitals to be linked through to actual dispensing, administration, and repeat purchase stages at the pharmacy level.

In particular, as the use of subcutaneous (SC) formulations, which patients can administer themselves, increases, pharmacy channels are becoming more critical. France has allowed pharmacy substitution of certain biopharmaceuticals since 2022, and the scope of eligible products is expanding.

Incheon Songdo Celltrion Plant 2 exterior view. Photo by Hyunmin Kim

Celltrion is preparing for direct sales of “Stovoclo” and “Ossenbelt” (active ingredient: denosumab), its therapies for bone diseases, through Gifrer’s pharmacy network. Plans call for launching sales according to French regulations and substitution timelines, with an expansion in product offerings to follow as more biosimilars become eligible for pharmacy substitution.

Additionally, Celltrion is considering licensing in other companies’ biosimilars, generics, and healthcare products that do not compete directly with its own products for local sales. The aim is to increase the number of products handled by the pharmacy sales organization, thereby improving both sales efficiency and Gifrer’s profitability.

Efforts to create synergy with other group subsidiaries are also underway. Celltrion Skincure’s derma cosmetic brand “Zipiderm” is scheduled for launch in the French pharmacy cosmetics market early next year, with Gifrer handling local sales and distribution. Celltrion’s French subsidiary plans to connect its network of dermatologists—built up through sales of Yuflyma and Omriclo—with Gifrer’s pharmacy network.

Gradual Expansion of the Direct Sales Model Across Europe

Celltrion plans to use France as a testbed for pharmacy direct sales in Europe. After verifying the results and profitability of its integrated sales model in France, the company intends to gradually expand into Western European countries, taking into account each market’s pharmacy distribution structures and biosimilar substitution regulations. Tailored strategies will be employed to reflect the regulatory systems of each country.

Kim Dongsik, Head of Global Region Europe at Celltrion, said, “Having reviewed the restructuring and sales strategy on-site with top management in France, we are now focused on leveraging Gifrer’s pharmacy network together with Celltrion’s product competitiveness to achieve concrete results. We will sequentially roll out the proven pharmacy sales model from France across Europe, adapted to the regulatory systems of each market.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.