"Increasing Demand Response"... Celltrion Expands DP Plant to 8 Million Bottles Annually

Celltrion is undertaking an expansion of its finished pharmaceutical product (DP) factory to proactively respond to increasing demand.

Celltrion's anticancer drug 'Herzuma' is being produced through the finished product process.
Incheon - Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

On the 5th, Celltrion announced that it has officially started the expansion process of a new DP factory capable of producing approximately 8 million liquid vials annually next to its first factory on the Incheon Songdo campus. The company plans to invest about 126 billion KRW in phases by 2026. The design phase is already underway, and after completion in early 2026, the factory will undergo validation processes before commencing full-scale commercial production in 2027.

Celltrion expects that by increasing the internalization ratio of DP production through this expansion, it will enhance product supply stability and cost reduction effects in line with sales growth. In particular, the new DP factory will apply the latest processes to reduce the number of production personnel per part by 20% compared to the existing factory, while increasing production volume by about 1.8 times, thereby maximizing production efficiency. This cost reduction effect is expected to become visible once commercial production is fully underway, with an anticipated cost decrease of approximately 30% compared to the unit cost of products currently produced through contract manufacturing organizations (CMO). The secured cost competitiveness is expected to strengthen global competitiveness, leading to more aggressive participation in overseas bidding markets and increased sales in regions outside the US and Europe.

Additionally, through the new factory expansion, Celltrion plans to establish a production system focused on specific product lines together with the existing second factory production line, thereby improving production efficiency by minimizing product line changes. The company will actively respond to steadily increasing sales demand by distributing DP production lines according to product categories.

Celltrion currently plans to launch a total of 22 biosimilar (biopharmaceutical) products by 2030. Especially, with Chairman Seo Jung-jin of Celltrion Group setting a sales target of 12 trillion KRW by 2030, and biosimilars expected to contribute 60% of sales aiming for 7 trillion KRW annually, the role and importance of the DP factory are expected to grow even further. As the product portfolio continues to expand, Celltrion plans to proceed with production through strategic role distribution with global CMOs to maintain a competitive edge in the market.

A Celltrion official stated, “The expansion of the new DP factory aims to realize cost reduction through internalization of production capacity and ultimately to build infrastructure that can respond quickly and effectively to increased product demand, including follow-up pipeline products. If sales demand continues to grow steadily, we will also consider additional DP factory expansions to further accelerate securing sustainable future growth engines.”

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