Lotte outlines ambitious U.S. plans for ADC, CDMO businesses
Published: 17 Jan. 2025, 15:53
Updated: 17 Jan. 2025, 15:56
-
- LEE JAE-LIM
- [email protected]
![Lotte Biologics CEO James Park speaks during a presentation at the 43rd J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference held in San Francisco, California, on Jan. 16. [LEE JAE-LIM]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/01/17/1152d48e-c3be-4131-ad6c-6752c905407c.jpg)
Lotte Biologics CEO James Park speaks during a presentation at the 43rd J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference held in San Francisco, California, on Jan. 16. [LEE JAE-LIM]
SAN FRANCISCO — Lotte Biologics, a late entrant to the contract manufacturing industry, is striving to catch up to its crosstown rival, Samsung Biologics, with new leadership and an aggressive expansion of manufacturing facilities located in the United States and Korea.
Newly named CEO James Park made his first official debut at the 43rd J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco, California, on Thursday, outlining ambitious plans to expand its contract manufacturing business, including antibody-drug conjugates (ADC), amid global demand.
“Our strategy focuses on small- to-mid-scale drug substance and ADC manufacturing based in the U.S., and building a large-scale drug substance manufacturing facility in Korea,” Park said. “I call this the best of two worlds.”
Lotte Biologics, established in 2022 as part of Lotte Group’s efforts to expand into the biopharmaceutical sector, acquired a 35,000-liter (9,246-gallon) manufacturing plant in East Syracuse, New York, from Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS) the following year.
However, the company has failed to secure any new deals for contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) since then, leading to a switch in leadership. Park, the former CEO of GC Cell, was appointed to take the helm last month. He has worked at global companies such as Merck and BMS, as well as serving as the vice president of the Global Sales Center at Samsung Biologics.
“I have three set of missions ahead of me: Constructing new plants, operating the facilities, and procuring CDMO contracts,” Park said during a separate press conference held with Korean media outlets on Wednesday.
Construction is also underway to form Lotte Biologics’ own bio campus in Songdo, Incheon, comprising three production plants with a total capacity of 360,000 liters. The company has invested $1 billion in the campus, with completion of the first plant scheduled for 2027.
“We don’t want to compete [with Samsung Biologics] on the capacity front,” Park said. “I’m really looking forward to competing in adjacent businesses, CDMO as well. I think the advantage for ourselves is having two locations […] We have a facility in the U.S., the small- and-mid-sized scale, and then we will have larger-scale manufacturing in Korea as well.”
After the J.P. Morgan conference, Park will be heading to New York to inspect the Syracuse plant for the first time.
Park revealed the company’s new ADC platform, dubbed “SoluFlex Link,” for the first time at the conference.
"SoluFlex Link enhances the hydrophilicity of ADCs, improving efficacy, stability, productivity and pharmacokinetics within the body. This makes it an effective and accelerated drug development solution for the development and production of next-generation ADCs."
The platform was jointly developed with Korean biotech venture Kanaph Therapeutics. The platform will be deployed in the Syracuse plant, which will act as a hub to deliver the produced antibodies and ADCs to CDMO partners in North America.
Lotte Corporation Executive Vice President Shin Yoo-yeol, the only son of Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin, joined Park in San Francisco from Jan. 13 and 14 in a round of meetings held in search for potential partnerships.
BY LEE JAE-LIM [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
To write comments, please log in to one of the accounts.
Standards Board Policy (0/250자)