Celltrion completes acquisition of US Eli Lilly plant
Celltrion said Friday it had completed the acquisition of Eli Lilly’s plant in Branchburg, New Jersey, closing the deal about five months after it was named the preferred bidder in late July 2025.
The New Jersey plant includes manufacturing facilities, a logistics warehouse, a technical support center and an operations center, spanning about 148,760 square meters. It has current production capacity of about 66,000 liters of drug substance.
The Korean biosimilar giant said it planned to begin expansion work immediately and invest an additional 700 billion won ($485 million) to double capacity to 132,000 liters.
The firm also plans to enter contract manufacturing arrangements valued at about 678.7 billion won, under which it will supply biopharmaceuticals to Eli Lilly through 2029. The contract period has been set at four years to allow for contingencies, Celltrion said.
The revenue from the contract manufacturing business alone is expected to allow for an early recovery of the investment costs related with acquiring the facility, excluding operating expenses, the company added.
“With the Eli Lilly agreement, our US plant is expected to post record sales this year,” a Celltrion official said. “We have begun the expansion process to strengthen production capacity, as we seek to make a leap forward as a global firm.”
For the Korean firm, buying an existing facility that meets current Good Manufacturing Practice standards allowed it to secure an overseas production base more quickly than building a new plant.
The acquisition is expected to reduce exposure to US tariff risks and ease geopolitical uncertainty by diversifying Celltrion’s global manufacturing base, the firm said.
The firm said the New Jersey plant will help improve profitability, efficiency and supply-chain stability by enabling direct manufacturing, lowering logistics costs through local sales and strengthening its presence in the world’s largest pharmaceutical market.
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