Lotte Bio and Lotte Healthcare at the Starting Point... What Are Their Plans for Next Year?

Shin Dong-bin's Chosen 'Future Food'
Completion of Launch Work This Year, Full-Scale Business Next Year

Bio, Finalizing Syracuse Factory Acquisition Within the Year
Attention on Domestic Factory Site Announcement Next Year

Healthcare, CES Debut Next Year
Platform 'Cazzle' Open Beta Starts in April

Shin Dong-bin, Chairman of Lotte Group, Lee Hoon-ki, CEO of Lotte Healthcare, and Lee Won-jik, CEO of Lotte Biologics (from left) (Photo by Lotte, provided by Lotte Biologics)

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Chun-hee] Lotte Group's bio and healthcare business, positioned as the next-generation growth engine, will officially take off starting next year.

According to industry sources on the 23rd, Lotte Biologics and Lotte Healthcare are expected to participate in the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference and the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) held in the U.S. next month, respectively, where they will reveal detailed plans for their business next year.

Lotte Group has been focusing investments on bio and healthcare as the group's next-generation growth drivers. Chairman Shin Dong-bin has emphasized nurturing new businesses, stating, "We must focus investments on creating new customers and new markets through future-oriented management by reading the changes of the times," reflecting his proactive intentions. It is also symbolic that Lee Hoon-ki, head of the ESG Management Innovation Office, who is known to have Chairman Shin’s strong trust, is involved in the management of both companies. Lee, recently promoted to president in the group’s personnel reshuffle, serves as chairman of the board of Lotte Biologics and CEO of Lotte Healthcare.

Lotte Biologics: "Syracuse Plant Acquisition to be Completed Within the Year"… Where is the Domestic Production Base?

The largest investment, the contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) company Lotte Biologics’ acquisition of the Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) plant in Syracuse, USA, is expected to be finalized soon. With the completion of a paid-in capital increase of 210.6 billion KRW from Lotte Holdings and Japan’s Lotte Holdings yesterday, Lotte Biologics has secured the 160 million USD (approximately 205.3 billion KRW) funding needed for the Syracuse plant acquisition. A Lotte Biologics official explained, "Based on the secured funds, we plan to complete the acquisition within this year."

This means the deal is closing and the starting line is set just over seven months after announcing the Syracuse plant acquisition in May. Lotte Biologics is led by Executive Director Lee Won-jik, who previously worked at BMS and Samsung Biologics. Lee plans to present detailed visions at the Asia-Pacific (APAC) track of the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco, USA, from February 9 to 12.

With the acquisition of the Syracuse plant, and BMS entrusting existing production volumes to Lotte Biologics, stable sales are expected from next year. BMS and Lotte Biologics have signed a contract worth at least 220 million USD. This alone is expected to secure about 80% utilization. They are also continuously pursuing additional orders by attending major pharmaceutical and bio events such as Bio USA and CPHI.

Furthermore, there are plans to expand the plant next year. CEO Lee Won-jik has mentioned that "Korea is the most attractive" as the next production base after the Syracuse plant, and it is known that about 1 trillion KRW will be invested domestically to build a 'mega plant.' Candidate sites under consideration include domestic bio clusters such as Songdo in Incheon and Osong in Chungbuk. Additionally, since only about 30% of the total Syracuse plant site is currently in use, options to expand the factory on idle land are also being reviewed.

Lotte Healthcare to Unveil Platform 'CAZZLE' at CES… Open Beta Scheduled for April

Lotte Healthcare will unveil its personalized health management platform 'CAZZLE' for the first time at CES 2023, held from February 5 to 8 in Las Vegas, USA. CAZZLE, meaning 'to gather scattered health information like putting together a puzzle to improve customers’ healthy lifestyles,' aims to be a healthcare-specialized platform that leads from diagnosis and personalized recommendations to purchase. This is the first time since establishing the corporation with a 70 billion KRW investment in March that Lotte Healthcare’s business content has been concretized.

At CES, they will set up a 223㎡ (67-pyeong) exhibition hall under the theme 'A Better World Made Possible by CAZZLE.' Users can register personal questionnaires through the application (app) and receive solutions tailored to each result type.

In future commercial versions, to enhance diagnostic reliability, various information such as genetic testing, medical data, and life logs will be additionally utilized. To this end, collaborations have been initiated with Theragen Health to establish a genetic analysis testing system and with Ontact Health for diagnostic algorithm development. The plan is to start an open beta in April next year and proceed with a full launch around August.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.