Celltrion Pharm and Becton Dickinson Sign Partnership to Accelerate Global PFS CMO Business

Establishing a Long-term Partnership with a Leading Global Syringe Company

Celltrion Pharm announced on the 16th that it has signed an agreement for a strategic partnership with global syringe manufacturer and supplier Becton Dickinson (BD) and BD Korea.

(From left) Jeffrey Chen, Vice President of Asia at Becton Dickinson, Youngho Yoo, CEO of Celltrion Pharm, and Jason Hwang, President of BD Korea, are posing for a commemorative photo at the strategic tripartite agreement signing ceremony between Celltrion Pharm and Becton Dickinson BD Korea held on the 16th. Celltrion Pharm

Through this agreement, Celltrion Pharm will establish a long-term partnership with BD and seek ways to collaborate in securing global clients. By combining Celltrion Pharm's contract manufacturing organization (CMO) capabilities for pharmaceuticals with BD's global syringe customer network, the company plans to actively expand its pre-filled syringe (PFS) CMO business targeting both domestic and international pharmaceutical companies.

In particular, Celltrion Pharm plans to actively utilize BD's CMO partnership program to promote its PFS CMO capabilities to BD's major global clients. This program is a type of networking service operated by BD that connects its global clients with promising CMO companies. It provides functions such as recommending suitable CMO companies and facilitating business connections according to client requests.

To respond to increased demand resulting from the growth of the PFS business, Celltrion Pharm has also started expanding its production line at the Cheongju plant. Currently, the Cheongju plant is equipped with a three-story PFS production line with a total floor area of 2,315 square meters (approximately 700 pyeong), capable of handling the entire process from drug substance (DS) formulation to filling, foreign matter inspection, assembly, labeling, and packaging. This line can produce up to 16 million syringes per year. Celltrion Pharm plans to build additional production lines on 13,500 square meters (approximately 4,100 pyeong) of available land at the Cheongju plant by 2030. Once the expansion is completed, Celltrion Pharm's PFS production capacity is expected to triple from its current level.

The Cheongju plant of Celltrion Pharm completed global GMP certification in 2023 and is currently focused on producing Celltrion's autoimmune disease treatments Remsima SC and Yuflyma. In addition, the facility is capable of producing three types of PFS formulations: autoinjectors (AI), pre-filled syringes, and pre-filled syringe-S. A particular strength is the ability to simultaneously produce the high-demand autoinjector type and pre-filled syringe-S type.

A representative from Celltrion Pharm stated, "This agreement will be an important turning point in expanding our PFS CMO business to the global market by leveraging BD's global customer network. We will continue to strengthen Celltrion Pharm's differentiated PFS production capabilities and enhance our global CMO business competitiveness, accelerating the acquisition of new clients."