Celltrion to Build Factory in Wuhan, China

Celltrion Group Signs Factory Establishment MOU with Wuhan City, Hubei Province
Facility Investment of 600 Billion KRW... "Will Continue to Invest in Bio R&D"

Ki Woo-sung, CEO of Celltrion (front row, left), and Chen Ping, Deputy Secretary of the Donghu Development Zone Party Committee, are signing a business agreement for the establishment of a biopharmaceutical production plant in Wuhan, China, on the 20th.

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Dae-yeol] Celltrion has decided to build a biopharmaceutical production plant in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China.

On the 20th (local time), Celltrion Group announced that company officials and local government representatives attended a ceremony in Wuhan City to sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for establishing a biopharmaceutical production plant. Wuhan, considered the largest city in central China, is home to about 300 pharmaceutical and bio companies and R&D centers, making it a leading hub for the bio industry in China. The company stated that the Hubei provincial government’s active support, including building platforms for product development and commercialization, was a key reason for selecting the factory site. The groundbreaking ceremony is planned for the first half of this year.

Celltrion Group will establish a local corporation and build a biopharmaceutical production facility with a capacity of 120,000 liters, considered the largest scale in China. In addition to developing and producing biopharmaceuticals, the Chinese factory will also handle large-scale CMO (Contract Manufacturing Organization) production to supply the domestic market. A direct sales network for pharmaceutical sales within China will also be established.

The company announced plans to invest 600 billion KRW in facility investment over five years until 2025. The funds will be secured through the group’s own cash reserves and external investments. The plan includes increasing investment not only in facility construction but also in product development. A company official said, "Since 2017, many biopharmaceuticals have been included in China’s National Reimbursement Drug List (NRDL), and local experts expect that biopharmaceuticals will soon be included in the national centralized bidding system, which was first applied to chemical drugs last year," adding, "The local biopharmaceutical market is expected to grow significantly."

Based on these policy trends and environmental changes, Celltrion Group plans to steadily launch existing biosimilars and additional biosimilars developed in the future in China. The company also announced plans to develop the Wuhan corporation into a world-class enterprise holding the largest number of pipelines (new drug candidates) in China. According to the company, the Chinese pharmaceutical market is worth 150 trillion KRW (900 billion yuan, as of 2018), making it the second largest in the world after the United States. The biopharmaceutical market is about 10 trillion KRW (60 billion yuan) but is expected to more than double to 22 trillion KRW by 2023.

Ki Woo-sung, Vice Chairman and CEO of the company, said, "China is a large market with high demand for high-quality pharmaceuticals and is the second largest market in the world. Since Celltrion Group has directly entered the Chinese market, we will supply world-class Celltrion biosimilar medicines to Chinese patients as quickly as possible." Ma Guochang, Secretary of the Wuhan Municipal Committee and Deputy Secretary of the Hubei Provincial Committee, said, "Wuhan sincerely welcomes Celltrion, which has grown into a global leading biopharmaceutical company since its establishment in 2002, to attract a large-scale factory that complies with global standards based on its excellent development capabilities," adding, "Together with Celltrion, we will develop Wuhan into the top biopharmaceutical production base in China."