Celltrion Pharmaceuticals, responsible for the chemical pharmaceuticals business and domestic distribution of biosimilars for the Celltrion Group, has embarked on expanding its production facilities with the aim of becoming one of the top five pharmaceutical companies in South Korea by 2030. By enhancing global capabilities and diversifying their previously domestic sales-focused structure, the company anticipates achieving its goals.
Starting next year, Celltrion Pharmaceuticals will begin expanding its production line at the Cheongju plant to increase the manufacturing capacity of pre-filled syringe (PFS) type biopharmaceuticals. The expansion will raise the number of production lines from one to three, potentially tripling their production capability, with completion anticipated by 2028. This expansion is part of a strategy announced in August aimed at reaching the ‘top five domestic pharmaceutical companies’ goal by 2030, which involves expanding PFS production for global contract manufacturing opportunities, advancing antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) cancer drug and new drug platform technology development, and broadening chemical and biopharmaceutical product lines.
Globally, Celltrion Group has primarily grown by entering the biosimilar market early, focusing on overseas business. However, Celltrion Pharmaceuticals has a high proportion of domestic revenue due to its business structure, with 98.1% of its third-quarter cumulative sales (3,358 billion KRW out of 3,423 billion KRW) coming from the domestic market. Strengthening PFS production capacity is anticipated to be a key driver of global competitiveness. The Cheongju plant, already certified by several international organizations for GMP, currently produces 16 million syringes of PFS medications annually on one line, with plans to expand to three lines to increase production capacity threefold. After the expansion, they plan to fully launch international CMO operations.
The PFS market is projected to reach $16.3 billion (approximately 23 trillion KRW) by 2030, doubling in size from last year, due to the advantages of convenience, reduced contamination risk, and high accuracy of dosage. The expansion is set in response to rapidly increasing global demand.
In research, Celltrion Pharmaceuticals is strengthening its independent capabilities in new drug development. The company relocated its Cheongju R&D organization to Songdo Global Biotech Research Center last year to focus on new drugs and platform development. A key candidate, the ADC cancer drug, is expected to complete preclinical development by 2027 and, if successful, contribute to achieving their 2030 objectives through technology transfer.
Celltrion Pharmaceuticals independently continues to develop its ADC cancer drug apart from Celltrion’s collaboration with Phinobio. On the sales side, they aim to expand their domestic biosimilar product offerings from six to twenty-two by 2030. The chemical pharmaceuticals portfolio, represented by products like Godex, will also expand with new introductions such as ‘Amlojet Tablet’, a hypertension and hyperlipidemia combination therapy, slated for release next year following domestic approval.
These efforts are expected to positively influence Celltrion Pharmaceuticals’ independent valuation. The company’s stock price, buoyed by merger expectations with Celltrion and Celltrion Healthcare last year, dropped to around 60,000 KRW when the merger was not realized. While market anticipation was tied to the merger, emphasizing overseas market-focused independent competitiveness will bolster the company’s true value assessment.
Wi Hae-joo, an analyst at Korea Investment & Securities, stated that considering Celltrion Pharmaceuticals has doubled sales since its listing by leveraging its existing capabilities, the realization of the 2030 goals is highly feasible. He added that while past stock movements were driven by merger expectations with Celltrion, the company would now garner market attention by executing independent growth strategies.