Celltrion Launches CDMO Business... Initiates Attack on 40 Trillion Won Global Market

'Celltrion Bio Solutions', from drug candidate screening to commercial production
Starting with 100,000ℓ Plant 1 next year, establishing a 200,000ℓ domestic production hub

Celltrion Group has established 'Celltrion Bio Solutions,' a contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) specializing company, and is launching an attack on the global biopharmaceutical CDMO market worth 40 trillion KRW.

On the 17th, Seo Jung-jin, Chairman of Celltrion Group, held an online briefing and announced, "We have launched Celltrion Bio Solutions as a 100% subsidiary of Celltrion and will invest up to 3 trillion KRW to begin full-scale infrastructure construction and operation, including production facilities."

Seo Jung-jin, Chairman of Celltrion Group, announced the launch of 'Celltrion Bio Solutions,' a contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) specializing in pharmaceuticals, during an online press conference held on the morning of the 17th. Captured from Celltrion YouTube

Celltrion Group decided to make investments to fully enter the CDMO business last September, following the expansion of global biopharmaceutical demand and continuous CDMO outsourcing requests from domestic and overseas markets, and has been proceeding with the establishment of the corporation. The new corporation will provide end-to-end pharmaceutical development services, from new drug candidate screening to cell line and process development, clinical trial planning, regulatory document preparation, and commercial production. It also adopted the slogan "Acting for You, Thinking like You," meaning to provide customized services according to production fields and regional customer needs. Lee Hyuk-jae, Senior Vice President of Celltrion, who has extensive experience in product approval, clinical trials, and production within the group, has been appointed as the CEO of the corporation.

Celltrion Bio Solutions plans to secure production orders by reducing expansion costs and enhancing cost competitiveness through high production efficiency, based on the diverse business achievements accumulated by its parent company Celltrion since starting contract manufacturing organization (CMO) business in 2002, targeting global pharmaceutical companies, and the experience gained throughout the entire pharmaceutical business cycle, including manufacturing and approval.

The domestic production facility is designed to have a maximum capacity of 200,000 liters, with plans to begin construction of Plant 1 and the research center with a 100,000-liter scale within next year. The site candidates are currently under detailed review. The company expects that commercial production and full-scale sales will begin from 2028.

The new corporation's investment will be made through both internal and external funding. Initially, up to 1.5 trillion KRW of Celltrion Group's own investment will be injected to establish initial facilities and start contract development organization (CDO) services, followed by additional external funding of up to 1.5 trillion KRW to expand overseas specialized research centers and next-generation modality facilities.

The new production facility will enable flexible production by multiple batches of large and small bioreactors, allowing mass production and adapting to rapidly changing biopharmaceutical production trends. It will support next-generation modalities such as antibody-drug conjugates (ADC), multi-antibody therapeutics, cell/gene therapies, and peptide new drugs.

Additionally, to expand production areas including new modality fields and strengthen innovative technological competitiveness, specialized research centers will be established in the United States, Europe, India, and other regions. Furthermore, the company plans to build a global sales network in major countries worldwide, maximizing sales capabilities by considering each country's unique characteristics and culture.

According to market research firm Mordor Intelligence, the global biopharmaceutical CDMO market is expected to grow at an average annual rate of 10.9%, from approximately 24 trillion KRW (18.2 billion USD) this year to about 40 trillion KRW (30.5 billion USD) by 2029.

Chairman Seo said, "Based on the know-how accumulated by Celltrion over the past 20 years, we will provide customized services to clients throughout the entire pharmaceutical development cycle," adding, "Celltrion Bio Solutions will do its best to provide true end-to-end services based on cost competitiveness and customer-friendly policies."