Chugai Pharmaceutical's domestic product sales rose 18.2% to ¥406.3bn in the nine months to September 30, and part of that gain is timing. The company brought forward shipments to drug wholesalers into the July to September quarter as a transition measure ahead of the start of operation of a next-generation core business system (ERP) at its domestic sites. The quarterly figures show the bump: domestic product sales grew 8.2% in the first quarter and 5.1% in the second, then 39.9% in the third. Chugai does not say how much the pull-forward added.
Reported and Core profit
On the IFRS basis, revenue was ¥1.07tn, up 17.2%, operating profit was ¥522.6bn, up 21.6%, and net profit was ¥375.3bn, up 22.8%. Chugai's Core measure strips out items it treats as non-recurring. On that basis operating profit was ¥536.1bn, up 19.0%, and net profit was ¥384.7bn, up 20.2%. The IFRS figures include ¥1.9bn of intangible amortisation and ¥11.6bn of restructuring costs that Core excludes.
What drove growth
In Japan, price revisions and generic substitution weighed on sales. Main products and two new launches still lifted them: the bispecific lymphoma antibody coded RG7828, and the gene therapy RG6356/SRP-9001, launched in February 2026 for Duchenne muscular dystrophy.
Overseas product sales rose 11.0% to ¥500.5bn. Exports of NEMLUVIO to Galderma rose sharply, and exports of an ALK inhibitor to Roche also increased. Other revenue climbed 37.7% to ¥161.3bn on higher royalties, mainly from NEMLUVIO and a blood-coagulation antibody, and higher upfront payments.
The cost of goods ratio rose 1.6 points to 34.7% on changes in product mix. R&D spending rose 9.6% to ¥141.2bn. Selling and administrative costs rose 10.8% to ¥76.9bn, mainly on enterprise tax and one-off expenses.
Guidance unchanged
Chugai did not revise the full-year Core guidance it set on January 29.
| Core measure | Nine months | Full-year guidance | Progress |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | ¥1.07tn | ¥1.345tn | 79.4% |
| Operating profit | ¥536.1bn | ¥670bn | 80.0% |
| Net profit | ¥384.7bn | ¥485bn | 79.3% |
| Core EPS | ¥233.77 | ¥295.00 | 79.2% |
Nine-month revenue growth of 17.2% compares with guided full-year growth of 6.9%. The January guidance also sets domestic product sales at ¥498.0bn, up 5.4%, and overseas product sales at ¥602.0bn, down 0.6%, against nine-month overseas growth of 11.0%. The earnings summary does not explain how those year-end figures treat the pull-forward.
Dividend and pipeline
Chugai paid an interim dividend of ¥66 and forecasts ¥132 for the year, against ¥272 for the previous year, which included ¥150 of centenary commemorative dividends.
In the pipeline, the US and European regulators accepted filings for the antibody SA237/RG6168 in MOG antibody disease in September, and a Phase III trial of RG6160 in multiple myeloma began in August. Chugai ended development of atezolizumab (RG7446) in second-line liver cancer after the IMbrave251 results, and of RG6042 in Huntington's disease following a decision by Roche. The release gives no revenue effect for any of these steps.