Seo Jung-jin, Chairman of Celltrion, announced on the 27th that a contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) corporation will be launched next month.
He projected sales to reach 5 trillion KRW next year and 10 trillion KRW by 2027.
At an investor relations (IR) event held for local investors in Hong Kong on the same day, Chairman Seo said, "There will be no major disruption to the plan of 3.5 trillion KRW in sales this year and 5 trillion KRW next year," adding, "It will grow to around 7 to 8 trillion KRW in 2026, and probably reach 10 trillion KRW in 2027."
Regarding the biosimilar for autoimmune disease treatment, Remsima, he stated, "We sold more than 1 trillion KRW this year as well, and I believe there will be no significant difficulty in selling more than 1 trillion KRW next year," forecasting that sales growth of key products such as the subcutaneous injection (SC) formulation RemsimaSC at 730 billion KRW, Gimpentra (the US product name for RemsimaSC) at 700 billion KRW, and the blood cancer treatment Truxima at 400 billion KRW will enable achieving over 90% of the 5 trillion KRW target.
He added, "Up to this year, 11 products have been launched in the US and Europe, one of which is the new drug Gimpentra," and "By 2030, 11 additional products will be added as biosimilars."
Chairman Seo also said, "We are developing obesity treatments as well, but we are proceeding cautiously to develop products that have fewer side effects and greater efficacy," and "Within this year, we plan to burn 25% of our treasury shares and use 75% for mergers and acquisitions (M&A) or reinvestment."
Regarding the CDMO business, Seo said they intend to generate at least 100 billion KRW in sales per 10,000 liters, and that a wholly owned subsidiary will be launched in December, with production facilities in Korea starting construction next year.
He explained, "To quickly establish facilities, we will build a factory in Korea up to 200,000 liters," adding, "Since it costs 700 billion KRW to set up a 100,000-liter facility, a total of about 1.5 trillion KRW will be needed."
He further stated, "When the capacity exceeds 200,000 liters, if there is a third country advantageous from a business perspective, whether in the US or Europe, we will consider expansion there," and added, "We will make decisions according to the business environment."
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