Yuhan Corporation has signed an active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) supply contract worth more than KRW 210 billion with global pharmaceutical company Gilead Sciences. This follows an API supply contract worth about KRW 56 billion signed earlier this month with U.S. company Bridge Biotherapeutics, marking another large-scale API deal.

Yuhan Corporation announced on the 20th that it had signed an API supply contract with Gilead Sciences. The contract amount is US$139,810,854 (approximately KRW 210,191,600,000).

However, Yuhan did not disclose specific items or detailed terms of the contract. A Yuhan official said, “Details on the specific products or contract terms cannot be disclosed in accordance with mutual agreement between the two companies.”

The contract is significant in that it shows Yuhan’s API business is steadily expanding within the supply chains of global pharmaceutical companies. In addition to finished drug sales and new drug development, Yuhan has been conducting an API supply business. In particular, it has consistently maintained API supply contracts with Gilead in the antiviral segment, including HIV treatments and hepatitis C treatments.

Yuhan cited the strong exchange rate and increased sales of key products as recent growth drivers for its overseas business division. A Yuhan official explained, “The continued strong exchange rate has created a favorable environment for the overseas business division, and sales of major products such as APIs for AIDS and hepatitis C treatments are also continuing to grow.”

Yuhan’s API business operates under a structure in which Yuhan signs and manages contracts and orders with global clients, while its wholly owned subsidiary Yuhan Chemical is responsible for production. Yuhan Chemical is known to have supplied APIs used in antibiotics, hepatitis C treatments and HIV treatments to global pharmaceutical companies.

Order momentum has also continued recently. Since September 2024, Yuhan has maintained supply contracts with Gilead for APIs for HIV treatments and hepatitis C treatments. Existing Gilead-related contracts have been tallied at around US$270 million (approximately KRW 360 billion). With the addition of this new contract worth more than KRW 210 billion, Yuhan’s API supply relationship with Gilead has been further expanded.

Earlier this month, the company also signed an API supply contract worth about KRW 56 billion for a cardiomyopathy treatment with U.S.-based Bridge Biotherapeutics.

Combining the Bridge Biotherapeutics and Gilead contracts, the total value of API supply contracts that Yuhan has disclosed in May amounts to about KRW 266.2 billion. This exceeds 12% of last year’s revenue.

The growth of the API business is also reflected in the overseas business revenue trend. Yuhan’s overseas business revenue increased from KRW 240 billion in 2023 to KRW 310 billion in 2024 and KRW 380 billion in 2025. In the first quarter of this year, revenue from the overseas business division exceeded KRW 100 billion, up 21.4% year-on-year.

Production capacity is also being expanded. Yuhan Chemical has secured an annual production capacity of a total of 995,000 liters through its Ansan and Hwaseong plants. The Ansan plant operates four production buildings with a capacity of about 460,000 liters, while the Hwaseong plant is reported to have a production capacity of about 530,000 liters, following the completion of the HA building in 2016 and the commencement of operations at the HB building.

Investment in production facilities is underway as well. Yuhan Chemical is pushing ahead with expansion of the HC building at the Hwaseong plant. A Yuhan official said, “We are currently expanding Yuhan Chemical’s HC building to respond to increasing supply requests from customers,” adding, “Construction began in the first quarter of this year, and operations are planned to start in the first half of 2028.”

In the pharmaceutical industry, there is an assessment that Yuhan’s growth portfolio is expanding beyond new drug technology exports and finished drug sales into the API and CDMO (contract development and manufacturing organization) segments. APIs are a field that requires capabilities in quality control, production stability and regulatory compliance. Analysts say that repeated participation in the commercial drug supply chains of global pharmaceutical companies carries significance beyond short-term orders.

Yuhan is expanding its research and development achievements, focusing on its lung cancer drug Leclaza, while simultaneously strengthening its API production base through its subsidiary Yuhan Chemical. As both new drug development and API supply grow, the contribution of the overseas business to overall revenue is also increasing, according to industry assessments.

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