Is K-Bio Gathering in Songdo Becoming the World's Largest Cluster?

Lotte Bio Plans $3 Billion Investment in Songdo
All Together: Samsung Biologics, Celltrion, Celltrion Healthcare, and SK Bioscience

Securing World's No.1 Production Capacity... Additional 1.6 Million Liters Expected
Including Workforce Training Center in Materials and Components Ecosystem

A bird's-eye view of Lotte Biologics' 'Lotte Bio Campus' [Photo by Lotte Biologics]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Chun-hee] Lotte Biologics, which announced a "3 billion dollar (approximately 3.753 trillion KRW domestic investment)," has chosen Songdo, Incheon as its base. Following Celltrion and Samsung Biologics, who have established themselves as key players in Songdo, Lotte Biologics and SK Bioscience will join by next year, making Songdo poised to become the largest bio-cluster not only in Korea but also globally.

According to industry sources on the 6th, Lotte Biologics submitted a letter of intent regarding this project to the Incheon Free Economic Zone Authority (IFEZ) on the 3rd. CEO Lee Won-jik of Lotte Biologics declared the establishment of a "mega plant" domestically following their factory in Syracuse, USA. Although Osong in Chungbuk and Gwangmyeong in Gyeonggi also emerged as candidate sites, Songdo ultimately surpassed them to be selected as the top priority location.

Lotte Biologics has named the new factory the "Lotte Bio Campus" and committed to an investment of 3 billion dollars. Last month, at the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference, they revealed plans to begin construction of the first plant with a production capacity of 120,000 liters in the second half of this year. The schedule includes completion in the second half of 2025, obtaining Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) certification, and starting commercial production in 2027. Furthermore, they plan to establish two additional plants of similar scale, completing a total production capacity of 360,000 liters.

Samsung Biologics Plant 3 in Songdo, Incheon [Photo by Samsung Biologics]

With Lotte Biologics joining, Songdo has solidified its position as the largest bio-cluster in Korea. As of the end of last year, the top three Korean pharmaceutical and bio companies by market capitalization?Samsung Biologics (58 trillion KRW), Celltrion (25 trillion KRW), and Celltrion Healthcare (10 trillion KRW)?are all located in Songdo. Additionally, SK Bioscience, ranked fourth with 6 trillion KRW, is constructing a Research & Process Development (R&PD) center aiming for completion next year. After completion, SK Bioscience plans to relocate its headquarters from Pangyo, Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, to Songdo.

The Songdo bio-cluster is already recognized as world-class. As of the end of 2020, Songdo's biopharmaceutical production capacity was 880,000 liters, surpassing major overseas clusters such as San Francisco, USA (340,000 liters), and Singapore (210,000 liters), demonstrating overwhelming superiority. Adding the Samsung Biologics 4th plant with 240,000 liters, which is scheduled for full completion this year, along with four additional plants of similar scale in the planned 2nd Bio Campus (approximately 1 million liters) and the Lotte Bio Campus (360,000 liters), the total additional production capacity currently visible will reach 1.6 million liters?double the existing capacity?further widening the gap.

As various bio materials, parts, and equipment (SoBuJang) companies and foreign enterprises move in, a bio-ecosystem is also being established. Notably, German life sciences company Sartorius is investing 300 million dollars (approximately 373.8 billion KRW) to build large-scale production and research facilities in Songdo. Sartorius is a leading company competing for market share in various SoBuJang products essential for biopharmaceutical production, such as single-use bags, media, and filters. The government is also actively supporting this growth by establishing a bio-process workforce training center in Songdo to meet the rapidly increasing demand for skilled personnel as the number of companies grows. Construction began in the first half of this year, with the center scheduled to open in the second half of next year. The plan is to train approximately 2,000 bio-specialized professionals annually.