President Donald Trump noted that a tariff of more than 25% will be imposed on imported pharmaceuticals, prompting domestic pharmaceutical and biotech corporations to closely monitor the situation. Since the United States is the largest export market for domestic corporations' pharmaceuticals, inevitable damage is expected.
During a press conference held at Mar-a-Lago in Florida on 18th (local time), President Trump stated about the pharmaceutical tariff, "It will be 25% or more," adding that "the tariff will increase significantly over the course of a year."
Although the specific level has not been determined yet, if the United States imposes taxes on pharmaceuticals, domestic corporations entering the U.S. market will be affected. Production expenses could increase, and supply chains may face disruptions.
In response, domestic corporations are taking measures. Celltrion, which exports domestically produced biosimilars to the United States, has quickly posted immediate countermeasures on its website on the 19th.
On that day, Celltrion announced via its website that it has established an optimal response system regarding the possibility of a pharmaceutical tariff, stating that "regardless of whether the tariff is imposed, we have already minimized the impact on this year’s sales in the U.S."
Celltrion mentioned, "As of the end of January, we have completed the transfer of about nine months' worth of inventory for products planned for sale in the U.S.," adding, "We have been producing finished pharmaceuticals through local contract manufacturing organizations (CMO) before the occurrence of tariff risks, and we have secured additional potential production volumes through negotiations."
It also stated that "when tariffs are imposed, we are focusing on exporting raw pharmaceuticals that have a lower tax burden than finished pharmaceuticals," and added that "we will expand local production of finished pharmaceuticals further if necessary."
SK Biopharm is also exploring various options. SK Biopharm exports the epilepsy treatment "cenobamate" to the United States through a Canadian CMO.
A company official said, "We are reviewing various options, including changing CMO suppliers," adding that "since we utilize contract manufacturing instead of our own factory, if tariffs on Canada are confirmed in the future, we will consider measures using local CMO suppliers in the U.S."
Samsung Biologics, Samsung Bioepis, and Yuhan Corporation also stated that they are closely monitoring the situation.