JP Morgan Healthcare Conference 'Private Track' Presentation
Plans to Expand Cell and Gene Therapy (CGT) Business
Aiming to Become a 'Global Top 5 CDMO'
[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Chun-hee] SK's active pharmaceutical ingredient contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) subsidiary, SK Pharmteco, announced its 'Vision 2025' growth strategy at the 40th JP Morgan Healthcare Conference held online on the 10th (local time).
SK Pharmteco was invited for the first time this year to the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference and participated in the 'Private Track' for unlisted companies. It was the only Korean company invited to the Private Track. SK Pharmteco plans to pursue a pre-IPO (pre-listing investment attraction) this year and to concretize its plans for a public offering.
Launched in 2019 as SK's global integrated CDMO corporation, SK Pharmteco, along with its subsidiary SK Biotek Korea, has grown into a global CDMO with eight business sites and five research and development (R&D) centers across the US, Europe, and Asia through three mergers and acquisitions (M&A) over the past five years, including BMS's Swords plant in Ireland, AMPAC in the US, and Ipsen in France. Producing various blockbuster active pharmaceutical ingredients such as anticancer drugs, diabetes treatments, antiviral agents, and COVID-19 therapeutics, SK Pharmteco has recently expanded its business into innovative bioactive pharmaceutical ingredients like cell and gene therapy (CGT), rapidly strengthening its position.
Aslam Malik, President of SK Pharmteco, who delivered the announcement, presented these achievements and the vision to grow into a 'Global Top 5 CDMO.' Malik stated, "Last year's provisional sales reached a record high of $740 million (approximately 885.4 billion KRW), marking an astonishing growth of about 7.5 times compared to 2017 before global expansion. Along with the continuously growing synthetic active pharmaceutical ingredient business, we aim to make the CGT business a new growth engine and leap to a CDMO with annual sales of $2 billion (approximately 2.4 trillion KRW) by 2025."
Malik also highlighted SK Pharmteco's differentiated competitive advantages as ▲ integrated production capabilities across the US, Europe, and Asia ▲ world-class compliance systems ▲ excellent pipeline based on long-term contracts. All production facilities owned by SK Pharmteco in the US, Europe, and Asia comply with regulations from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the European Medicines Agency (EMA), enabling the supply of high-quality active pharmaceutical ingredients in major global regions. Based on these strengths, the market value of the synthetic active pharmaceutical ingredient pipeline produced by SK Pharmteco is expected to increase from $1.4 billion (approximately 1.6745 trillion KRW) last year to $2.1 billion (approximately 2.5118 trillion KRW) by 2025.
Malik identified the CGT business as the growth engine that will accelerate SK Pharmteco's future growth. He said, "Through the acquisition of Ipsen, a leading CGT CDMO in France, and investment in CBM in the US, we have rapidly secured production capabilities in the US and Europe. The market value of the pipelines held by both companies is approximately $2 billion (about 2.3922 trillion KRW), and through expanding production capacity and customer base, it is expected to reach $6 billion (about 7.1766 trillion KRW) by 2025."
SK Pharmteco plans to increase its global production capacity by 50% from the current approximately 1,000 cubic meters by 2025 through continuous investment. Once Ipsen's second production plant under construction is completed in 2023, production capacity will double to 100,000 square feet (approximately 9,300 square meters). CBM is also expected to have the world's largest production capacity for a single CGT facility at 700,000 square feet (approximately 65,000 square meters) by 2025 through phased expansions.
Lee Dong-hoon, Head of SK Bio Investment Center, said, "SK Pharmteco, which possesses high-level production capabilities in developed countries, will secure a favorable position in the global industry. SK plans to support the successful commercialization of innovative new drug businesses with high technical and compliance barriers and to finalize its listing plans."
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