Yuhan Corp., a South Korean biopharmaceutical company, said Monday its third-quarter net profit jumped more than 80 percent from a year earlier thanks to the release of its lung cancer treatment in the United States.

Net profit for the July-September period reached 23.7 billion won (US$17.1 million), up 85.1 percent from a year ago, the company said in a regulatory filing.

Its operating profit surged 690.6 percent on-year to hit an all-time high of 54.5 billion won, and sales increased 24.8 percent to also a record 585 billion won.

Yuhan attributed its robust performance to the release of its lung cancer treatment, Leclaza, in the U.S. market.

Leclaza was the first cancer treatment developed by a South Korean company to gain approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in August.

In 2018, Yuhan signed a licensing agreement worth $1.26 billion with U.S. bio giant Janssen, transferring the global development and commercialization rights for Leclaza, the brand name of Lazertinib. Yuhan holds the righ
ts for Leclaza in South Korea.

The company has also been receiving milestone payments from Janssen for the release of the drug in global markets.

Last month, Yuhan said it will receive some $60 million from Janssen for the commercialization of Leclaza in the U.S.

Source: Yonhap News Agency