Lotte Biologics, a recently established CDMO of biologics, has announced an investment of $3 billion to construct three biomanufacturing plants in Korea. 

Lotte Biologics entered the CDMO market with the acquisition of a commercial-scale biomanufacturing facility in Syracuse, New York, from Bristol-Myers Squibb last month (January 2023). The companies had announced the acquisition in May (May 2022). Lotte Biologics is part of Lotte Corporation, a Seoul, Korea-based holding company with holdings in chemicals, food & beverage, retail, and hotels & services. The Syracuse facility will serve as the Lotte Center for North America Operations for Lotte’s biologics CDMO business in the US. Lotte acquired the Syracuse site’s operations and assets, which include the property, plant and equipment, and workforce. 

Its new $3-billion investment to build three biomanufacturing plants in Korea by 2030 will provide total production capacity of 360,000 liters of antibody drugs. Each plant will be capable of producing 120,000 liters of antibody drugs, with additional expansion plans calling for a small-scale incubator for clinical drug-substance production as well as a commercial drug-product production facility. 

Construction of the first plant in Korea will begin in the second half of 2023, with completion scheduled for the second half of 2025, GMP approval for the second half of 2026, and commercial production for 2027. Lotte says it aims to have all three plants fully operational by 2034. It says it expects to generate revenue of $3 billion while maintaining an operating profit margin of 35% 

In addition, the new biomanufacturing site in Korea will host the Lotte Bio Campus, alongside a Bio-Venture Initiative, where biopharmaceutical start-ups can use Lotte’s facilities and establish a venue for cooperation. 

The company says it is also considering expansion plans that include antibody drug conjugate contract manufacturing services as well as clinical drug-substance incubation and drug product facilities at its site in Syracuse. In addition, the company says it is also looking into expanding its footing in North America by establishing contract development facilities in core bio-clusters such as Boston and San Francisco.  

Source: Lotte Biologics