Korean drugmakers shout loud and proud at JPM

Lotte Biologics delivers details on Songdo plant development plan, Samsung says it will have 1.3 million liters of capacity by 2032, Celltrion announces it is shifting into different drug development opportunities, and SK Bio talks investment into drug discovery platforms.

As delegates and vendors descended at the JP Morgan Healthcare conference in San Francisco this week, various biopharma companies disclosed breaking company news and updates.

Contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) Lotte signed a land purchase agreement in Songdo, Korea to build three plants with a total of 360,000 L capacity in October 2023. In a keynote speech at the conference, CEO Richard Lee emphasized the design of the facility as a key concept to closing the gap between market demand and supply capabilities in the CDMO space.

“Lotte Biologics’ bio plant in Songdo will not just be a production facility but embody innovative solutions for a better human life. We are committed to evolving as a global CDMO, ensuring on-time-in-full delivery of necessary pharmaceuticals to patients,” said Lee.

Construction of plant one is expected to begin this year and is designed to be a mammalian cell culture facility with a capacity of 120,000 L. The plant will include the Titer Flex Quad Bioreactor System, as well as 15,000 L and 3,000 L stainless steel bioreactors.

Additionally, the CDMO will install solar panels and water recycling systems in the plant design to support its eco-friendly policy.

Samsung Biologics

Fellow Korean CDMO Samsung Biologics also presented its plans at the JPM conference. The firm said it has been “accelerating” the buildout of plant five, which will take the company’s total biomanufacturing capacity up to 784,000 L upon completion in April next year.

In March 2023, the CDMO confirmed its plans to pump over KRW 1.98 trillion ($1.47 billion) into plant five. The plant project was first announced in 2020 and the first phase of operations began in October 2022, bringing 60,000 L of capacity on line.

Furthermore, the company told delegates at the JPM conference about its activity in the antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) space. The CDMO is building an ADC plant at a separate site and outlined its aim of beginning operations next year.

Alongside investing in manufacturing capabilities, Samsung has also been injecting capital in biotech companies with specific technologies to establish ADC capabilities. In September 2023, the firm inked an ADC development pact with AimedBio after investment wing Samsung Venture Investment Corporation took a stake in the company.

In the same year, the investment subsidiary took an undisclosed stake in Araris Biotech to support future advancement of potential candidates for ADCs.

Celltrion

While not a CDMO per se, Korean drugmaker Celltrion Group outlined the company’s decision to not focus solely on biosimilars at the conference. The Korea Biomedical Review reported Seo Jin-seok, Celltrion’s honorary chairman said:

"Our focus is now shifting to new drug development […] we're prioritizing antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) projects for solid tumors and exploring immune checkpoint candidates," he said. "Our commitment extends to developing innovative therapies for blood cancers and autoimmune diseases, in collaboration with AI-powered drug discovery companies."

In September 2023, Celltrion upped its drug product capacity in South Korea with a 126 billion won ($94.5 million) investment to build a plant at its site in Songdo. Three months later, the firm said it would build a $230 million 99,000 square-meter biomanufacturing plant in Yesan County, South Korea. 

SK Bio

As published by news outlet The Investor, SK Biopharmaceuticals told the JPM conference attendees it will make “aggressive” investments into drug discovery platforms to produce the success seen in its epilepsy treatment Xcopri.

"SK Biopharmaceuticals is the first and the sole Korean company to directly sell novel drugs in the US," CEO Lee Dong-hoon said.

"We are actively engaged in the discovery and development of best-in-class and first-in-class decomposition agents, capable of targeting entities that lacked therapeutic agents previously, facilitated by molecular proximity-enabled detection," Dong-hoon said.

This strategy of investing into new drug development platforms aims to facilitate a move into the global biotech space.