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Celltrion launches CDMO subsidiary BioSolutions to achieve 3 trillion won sales goal

Published: 17 Dec. 2024, 15:08

SHIN HA-NEE
[email protected]

Celltrion Chairman and founder Seo Jung-jin speaks during an online press conference announcing the official launch of Celltrion BioSolutions on Dec. 17. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

Celltrion established a wholly-owned contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) subsidiary, Celltrion BioSolutions, the Incheon-based drugmaker said on Tuesday.

Celltrion will pour up to 1.5 trillion won ($1.04 billion) into its new contract business, and aims to raise up to another 1.5 trillion won from external investors for further overseas expansion in the future if necessary.

The ultimate goal is to achieve 100 billion won in revenue per 10,000 liters (10,567 quarts) produced, which will bring the total revenue of all contract operations to up to 3 trillion won by 2031.

"We will mainly focus on high-value-added businesses in order to generate 100 billion won per at least 10,000 liters of production capacity,” said Seo Jung-jin, Celltrion’s founder and chairman, during an online press conference on Tuesday.

"If we focus only on a CDMO business, we will never be able to achieve 100 billion won in sales per 10,000 liters — that is why I am outlining our plan on the premise that we will offer a comprehensive service.”

The official launch was decided on the back of continued requests from clients for such services, according to Seo, as Celltrion has been operating a contract manufacturing business since 2002.

The main business pillars of Celltrion BioSolutions consist of contract manufacturing as well as research and development covering the whole process of drug making from the preclinical development to regulatory and clinical support to product manufacturing. Celltrion, as an antibody-drug developer, has already secured capabilities for all three areas, said Seo.

Celltrion BioSolutions will break ground on a 100,000-liter production plant in Korea in the first half of next year with a long-term goal of bringing domestic capacity to up to 200,000 liters.

Commercial production at the upcoming plant will begin in 2028, with an estimated 50 billion won in sales expected by 2029. The timing of the additional 100,000-liter capacity expansion will be decided based on market demand, possibly after 2030, said the chairman.

Ahead of the commencement of commercial production, the newly formed subsidiary will first launch its contract development and research business next year, aiming to achieve 100 billion won in sales by 2027.

BY SHIN HA-NEE [[email protected]]