Lotte, Roche team up for CDMO enhancement

Richard Lee, left, Lotte Biologics CEO, and Rainer Mueller, vice president of Roche CustomBiotech, pose for a photo during an agreement signing ceremony held in Penzberg, Germany. [LOTTE BIOLOGICS]

Lotte Biologics signed an agreement with Roche Diagnostics to further improve its contract development and manufacturing organization capabilities, the Korean company said Wednesday.

Roche Diagnostics is a diagnostics division of Basel, Switzerland-based Roche. With the signing of the memorandum of understanding (MOU), Roche Diagnostics and Lotte Biologics will cooperate in establishing hardware and automation systems for Lotte’s upcoming production facilities in Korea.

Lotte Biologics announced in January 2023 that it would build three new plants with a combined production capacity of 360,000 liters (95,101 gallons) by 2030 in Incheon, with a budget of $3 billion.

“With the latest MOU, we will work with Roche Diagnostics to further enhance our local mega-plants’ production capabilities,” Lotte Biologics CEO Richard Le said.

BY SHIN HA-NEE [shin.hanee@joongang.co.kr]