Janssen's Vaccines has no annual sales in 10 years

Janssen Vaccines, operating loss of ￦31.6 billion

There are no plans to withdraw from Korea

Janssen Vaccines

Janssen Vaccines, which once generated annual sales of ￦300 billion through vaccine manufacturing and sales, recorded zero in sales last year.

 

As demand for representative products, which were responsible for the company's sales, fell sharply, sales activities were virtually suspended.

 

After the withdrawal of the Hyangnam factory in 2021, the company is willing to transform its products into cutting-edge biomedicines.

 

According to Janssen Vaccines’ audit report submitted to the Financial Supervisory Service on the 11th, the company posted sales of ￦0 and operating loss of ￦31.6 billion last year.

 

Janssen Vaccines plunged to ￦99 billion in 2016, ￦42.7 in 2017, and ￦27.6 billion in 2018, but sales did not occur in last year.

 

The deficit has been continuing for four years in a row since it made an operating loss of ￦20.9 billion in 2016.

 

Last year, the size of the deficit was the largest since its foundation.

 

The background of Janssen vaccines’ no performance was attributed to changes in vaccine demand.

 

The company had relied on most of its sales for two types of hepatitis B vaccines, 'Hepavax-Gene' and the pentavalent vaccine 'Quinvaxem'.

 

Jansen Vaccine conducted the entire process from R&D of 'Hepavax-Gene' and 'Quinvaxem' to production and export of finished drugs through state-of-the-art vaccine manufacturing plants located in Songdo Free Economic Zone in Incheon.

 

'Hepavax-Gene' and 'Quinvaxem' obtained the Pre-qualification (PQ) from the World Health Organization (WHO) in 1997 and 2006 respectively, and In 2009, sales of vaccines jumped to ￦310 billion and operating profit of ￦113.6 billion, starting with the mass supply of vaccines to the public sector of underdeveloped countries through UN international organizations such as the UNICEF and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).

 

Quinvaxem achieved exports exceeding $100 million in 2008 and boasted high demand to record the number one domestic pharmaceutical production record for six consecutive years from 2009 to 2014.

 

However, there is currently little performance.

 

Quinvaxem failed to win the WHO vaccine bid, and Hepavax-Gene also decided to stop supplying domestic products after consuming inventory due to a decrease in the proportion of domestic hepatitis B infections last year.

 

An official from Janssen Vaccines said that it has been supplying only the minimum amount of vaccines from 1 to 2 years ago and has not been engaged in commercial production activities and sales of ￦26.5 billion were applied to the amount recovered from the past supply in 2018.

 

He added that the company had decided not to make sales until the production line was reorganized.

 

However, just because there is no sales does not mean that the company is planning to withdraw.

 

The company plans to establish a new production line, such as anticancer drugs and next-generation vaccines, and to minimize operations until it receives approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for pharmaceutical raw material manufacturing facilities.

 

It is known that the withdrawal of Hyangnam Plant in 2021 opened the possibility of taking over employees who wish to transfer.

 

It is planned to start normal production activities from 2023 as soon as possible.

 

In fact, the Janssen vaccines invested $3 million in the Songdo plant in 2017 at the time of 2018 when Janssen Korea officially withdrew the Hyangnam plant.

 

In 2018, the company plans to invest a similar amount of money and confirmed the establishment of a second-generation production line for Darzalex, a treatment for multiple myeloma.

 

An official from Janssen Korea said that the company's production plans and financial decisions are confidential and it is difficult to disclose the information.

 

The Janssen vaccines’ Incheon plant is strategically operated within the global production network and plans to continue investing in facilities.