Celltrion to create $76 billion global healthcare fund: Founder

Celltrion Group Chairman Seo Jung-jin (Second from right) participates in the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference main track. [Courtesy of Celltrion]

South Korea’s Celltrion Group plans to list its holding company by the end of this year and use the proceeds to create a global healthcare fund worth 100 trillion won ($75.8 billion), according to its Chairman Seo Jung-jin.

“We plan to list the holding company of the Celltrion Group in which I own a 98.5 percent stake as early as by the end of this year or early next year at the latest,” Seo said, during the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco, the United States, on Wednesday. “We plan to use the funds to create a healthcare fund worth over 100 trillion won.”

Seo added that the group will make the holding company an investment entity for more investments.

The Celltrion Founder also suggested collaborating with platform companies to find better solutions.

Seo told reporters later that Celltrion Group plan to invest about 5 trillion won in the fund, potentially attracting other investors and raising between 50 trillion won to 100 trillion won in total. He emphasized that this fund would contribute to the bio-healthcare ecosystem and help secure allies for the group.

Celltrion Group participated in the health conference’s main track event as one of the presenters. The presentation provided an overview of the group’s past achievements over the past two decades and ongoing projects.

The group also expressed confidence in its growth potential, quoting an anticipated 11 trillion won in sales and 3.3 trillion won in operating profit by 2030 based on its 2022 sales of 2.3 trillion won and an operating margin of 29 percent.

During the discussion session following the presentation, Seo emphasized that the primary goal of pharmaceutical companies is ensuring “humanity’s health,” not just making money.

“Out of the 7 billion world population, 6 billion don’t even have access to medicines due to high prices,” Seo said. “We will strive for biosimilars until there are no people dying due to a lack of money.”