Celltrion to form subsidiary for contract development and manufacturing

The pharmaceutical firm said it will set up a fully owned subsidiary for CDMO to capitalize on its expertise in antibody development and production.

Celltrion's headquarters in Incheon [CELLTRION]

Celltrion will establish a fully owned subsidiary aimed at contract development and manufacturing (CDMO) by the end of this year, the pharmaceutical firm said on Friday.

“The key focus of this plan is to secure a competitive edge over existing CDMO companies, fully leveraging Celltrion's expertise in antibody development and production with our higher productivity and lower expansion costs,” it said in a shareholder notice posted on its website.

“We are currently advancing rapidly with detailed discussions on the business.”

The subsidiary’s facility expansion and business operations are set to begin next year.

The announcement comes a month after Celltrion Chairman Seo Jung-jin and his son, co-CEO Seo Jin-seok, initially mentioned that the firm plans to operate the CDMO business through a fully owned subsidiary at the Morgan Stanley Global Healthcare Conference held in New York.

Moreover, the drugmaker reported that its subcutaneous injection autoimmune disease treatment Zymfentra, available in the United States since March, has been listed with 80 percent of the U.S. pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs).

However, it will take about two to three months for all insurance companies under the PBMs to complete the listing process, as once the drug becomes accessible to patients, it will take some time for them to receive reimbursement for the prescriptions.

BY LEE JAE-LIM [lee.jaelim@joongang.co.kr]