Celltrion, a leading South Korean biosimilar developer, has announced plans to enter the CDMO market, investing 1.5 trillion won (USD 1 bn) to construct a 200,000-liter production facility in Korea.

To support this expansion, Celltrion will open R&D centers in India, the US, and Europe, hiring 500 Ph.D.-level researchers, aiming to offer a comprehensive range of CDMO services related to monoclonal antibodies, bispecific antibodies, and ADCs.

The following article originally appeared in The Korea Economic Daily.

South Korea’s leading biosimilar developer Celltrion Inc. will break ground on its first contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) plant in Korea next year, said its chairman about three months after the company unveiled a plan to venture into the CDMO market.

For that, Celltrion will pick a site for a CDMO plant with a production capacity of 200,000 liters in Korea before the end of this year, added its founder and Chairman Seo Jung-jin.

The biosimilar giant also plans to operate research and development centers in India, the US and Europe for its CDMO business, according to the company’s CDMO business strategy unveiled by Seo at its investment roadshow held in Hong Kong on Wednesday.

“We need approximately 500 researchers with doctoral degrees to expand our CDMO business but our R&D human resources fall short of that,” said Seo. “We will open new R&D centers with more staff and plan to conduct research requiring repetitive tasks in India.”

Seo expects Celltrion to start generating revenue from CDMO operations in 2028.

The chairman disclosed the company’s plan to advance into the CDMO market with a wholly owned CDMO subsidiary for the first time at the Morgan Stanley 22nd Annual Global Healthcare Conference in New York City in early September.

The CDMO market has emerged as a blue ocean for Korean biologics companies.

Samsung Biologics Co. is the country’s leading CDMO player, chased by smaller cross-town rivals like Lotte Biologics Co. and stem-cell therapy company Medipost Co.

Seo said Celltrion will produce a wide range of CDMO drugs including monoclonal to trispecific antibody drugs as well as peptide and microbiome drugs to beat competitors like Switzerland-headquartered Lonza, the world’s No. 1 CDMO company.

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