South Korean pharmaceutical and biotech companies that surpassed 1 trillion won in annual revenue showed stark differences in operating efficiency. (Image courtesy of Korea Bizwire)
SEOUL, March 31 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korean pharmaceutical and biotech companies that surpassed 1 trillion won in annual revenue showed stark differences in operating efficiency, with employee productivity varying by as much as 19 times among industry leaders.
According to industry data released March 30, nine companies joined the “trillion-won club” in 2024: Samsung Biologics, Celltrion, Yuhan Corporation, GC Pharma, Kwangdong Pharmaceutical, Chong Kun Dang, Hanmi Pharmaceutical, Daewoong Pharmaceutical, and Boryung Pharmaceutical.
Samsung Biologics led the pack with the highest employee productivity, generating 263.44 million won in operating profit per employee across its workforce of 5,011. Celltrion ranked second with 169.60 million won per employee among its 2,901 employees, followed by Hanmi Pharmaceutical (90.54 million won) and Daewoong Pharmaceutical (84.56 million won).
Boryung and Chong Kun Dang recorded about 42 million won per employee, while Kwangdong Pharmaceutical, Yuhan Corporation, and GC Pharma followed with 28.08 million won, 25.93 million won, and 13.63 million won respectively.
The productivity gap between Samsung Biologics and GC Pharma reached 19.3 times. Samsung Biologics saw its operating profit grow from 983.6 billion won in 2022 to 1.32 trillion won in 2024. In contrast, GC Pharma’s operating profit dropped from 812.6 billion won in 2022 to 321.1 billion won in 2024, largely due to declining influenza vaccine sales following COVID-19′s transition to endemic status.
Employee compensation also varied significantly. Samsung Biologics led with average annual salaries of 107 million won, followed by Celltrion at 103 million won. Yuhan and Chong Kun Dang paid 97 million won and 81 million won, respectively, while others averaged in the 70 million won range. Daewoong offered the lowest average at 69 million won.
In executive compensation, Samsung Biologics CEO John Rim topped the list at 7.91 billion won, followed by Celltrion Chairman Seo Jung-jin at 4.38 billion won. Several other executives from both companies received over 2 billion won annually, while CEOs of other major pharmaceuticals earned between 900 million and 1.3 billion won.
M. H. Lee (mhlee@koreabizwire.com)
