Incheon City and Sartorius Sign Land Sale Agreement for Investment in Biopharmaceutical Raw Material Facility

Construction to Begin by Year-End on Songdo Advanced Industrial Cluster Site, Completion Scheduled for 2025

At the investment contract signing ceremony between Incheon City and Sartorius held on the 5th, Jin-Yong Kim, head of the Incheon Free Economic Zone Authority, Jeong-Bok Yoo, mayor of Incheon, Deok-Sang Kim, CEO of Sartorius Korea Operations, and Bruno Roquefeuil, CEO of Sartorius (from left), are posing for a commemorative photo. [Provided by Incheon Free Economic Zone Authority]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Hyesook] The plan to establish a production facility in Songdo, Incheon by Sartorius, a global German company specializing in vaccine raw materials and equipment, is becoming more concrete.

The Incheon Free Economic Zone Authority announced on the 7th that it signed a land sales contract with Sartorius Korea Operations on the 5th. The event was attended by Yoo Jeong-bok, Mayor of Incheon; Kim Deok-sang and Bruno Louakfier, co-CEOs of Sartorius Korea Operations; and Kim Jin-yong, Commissioner of the Incheon Free Economic Zone Authority.

This contract is for Sartorius to build a research facility for manufacturing and processing core raw materials for biopharmaceuticals within the advanced industrial cluster industrial site in Songdo International City.

Sartorius plans to produce various raw materials including single-use bags (disposable containers used for culturing cells and viruses), cell culture media (liquid substances required by cells for growth), pharmaceutical filters (filters that remove impurities and harmful bacteria from medicines), and membranes (films that selectively allow certain components to pass through to separate mixtures).

Sartorius intends to export products manufactured in Korea worldwide and establish Korea as an important production hub in Asia. Construction is scheduled to begin by the end of this year, with completion targeted for the first half of 2025.

Previously, in November 2020, Sartorius submitted a letter of intent to the Incheon Free Economic Zone Authority for a $100 million facility investment to build biopharmaceutical raw material manufacturing, R&D, and educational facilities in Songdo. Last year, it signed a memorandum of understanding with the Ministry of Industry, Ministry of Health and Welfare, and Incheon City to expand the investment scale to $300 million.

Founded in Germany in 1870, Sartorius is a global leading company in the bio-research process field, supplying products and equipment related to life sciences research and processes, and providing related technical services. It operates production facilities, research centers, sales, education, logistics, and service branches in over 60 locations worldwide, employing more than 14,000 people as of the end of last year.

In Korea, Sartorius Korea, Sartorius Korea Biotech, and Sartorius Korea Operations are in operation, with Sartorius Korea Operations leading the Songdo project.

Mayor Yoo said, "Songdo is the optimal location for Sartorius to establish a foothold for entering the Asian market," adding, "We will provide maximum support so that Songdo can become a global hub not only for biopharmaceutical production but also for the supply of raw materials."