Local bioengineering firm signs major contract

Local bioengineering firm Celltrion signed a contract yesterday with Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., a New York-based multinational pharmaceutical firm, to produce 60,000 liters of biological products on a long-term basis, Celltrion said. A groundbreaking ceremony also took place yesterday in Songdo, in Incheon’s free economic zone, to extend Celltrion’s production and research facilities there. The event was attended by Lamberto Andreotti, president of Bristol-Myers Squibb, and Incheon Mayor Ahn Sang-soo, among others. The contract came about just over a year after Celltrion signed an initial agreement to manufacture 50,000 liters of mammalian cell culture products for Bristol-Myers Squibb. The agreement was the largest manufacturing contract for biological products ever signed by an Asian biopharmaceutical maker. When construction of the 650-billion-won ($681 million) extension is completed in 2009, Celltrion will begin producing a new protein drug for export. The combined production facilities will be able to churn out 200,000 liters of protein drugs a year, generating about 1 trillion won in sales, the firm said. by Wohn Dong-hee