Celltrion invests $94.5 million to build drug production plant

Celltrion is investing 126 billion won ($94.5 million) by 2026 to build a production facility for drug products in Songdo, Incheon, the biopharmaceutical company said Tuesday.

Celltrion logo at the company's Incheon plant [NEWS1]

Celltrion is investing 126 billion won ($94.5 million) by 2026 to build a production facility for drug products in Songdo, Incheon, the biopharmaceutical company said Tuesday.

The new plant will be built next to Celltrion’s plant unit 1 located at its Songdo campus, with an annual production capacity of 8 million vials. The construction will be completed by 2026, and the commercial operation is set to begin in 2027.

When completed, the production expansion will help push down production costs and ensure a stable supply of drug products, said Celltrion.

The upcoming facility will enable about a 20 percent reduction in the number of personnel compared to its previous plants, with a 1.8 times higher production efficiency. In contract manufacturing, it is estimated to cut production costs by 30 percent.

Moreover, a new production facility will enable the company to designate certain production lines for specific products and therefore reduce the resources and time needed to transition equipment from working on one product to another, which will eventually boost efficiency, explained Celltrion.

Celltrion plans to expand its biosimilar pipeline by 22 by 2030, with the revenue goal set at 12 trillion won.

“The construction of a new production facility is aimed at securing the manufacturing capacity to cut expenses and as a result establishing infrastructure to promptly respond to an increase in demand for drug products, which will include our upcoming pipeline products,” said a Celltrion official in a release.

Celltrion has recently announced a merger with Celltrion Healthcare, with Celltrion being the surviving entity. The merger will be finalized by the end of this year.

It is part of the previously announced plan of a three-way merger between Celltrion, Celltrion Healthcare and Celltrion Pharm. Celltrion Pharm will also be merged into Celltrion within six months at the earliest.

Celltrion shares closed 146,600 won on the main Kospi bourse Tuesday, up 0.76 percent compared to the previous trading day.

BY SHIN HA-NEE [shin.hanee@joongang.co.kr]