Celltrion inks KRW 375.4B global biopharma supply deal, boosting CDMO momentum

Celltrion announced that it has signed a contract manufacturing (CMO) agreement with a global pharmaceutical company for the supply of drug substance. The counterparty remains undisclosed to ensure business confidentiality.

Under the agreement, Celltrion will supply drug substance for three years from 2027 through 2029. The contract value is approximately KRW 294.9 billion and may expand to KRW 375.4 billion, subject to mutual agreement. Celltrion plans to complete production arrangements early to ensure stable delivery.

As demand for CDMO partnerships from global pharmaceutical companies continues to grow, Celltrion is strengthening its global sales and project management capabilities through its subsidiary Celltrion BioSolutions to further streamline its CMO business operations.

Celltrion differentiates its CMO business by offering technology-driven service models. One such service is its “formulation conversion CMO,” which provides partners with the company’s accumulated subcutaneous (SC) formulation technologies developed through products such as Remsima SC (marketed as Zymfentra in the United States) and Herzuma SC.

Celltrion aims to move beyond traditional contract manufacturing to provide high-value CMO services that enhance partners’ product competitiveness, and will accelerate efforts to expand production capacity and infrastructure to support this strategy.

In addition, as the global biopharmaceutical market continues to expand and pharmaceutical companies increasingly seek reliable manufacturing partners, interest in Celltrion’s manufacturing capabilities is also steadily growing. Celltrion currently has a total manufacturing capacity of 316,000 liters, including facilities in Songdo, Korea (Plants 1, 2 and 3 with a combined capacity of 250,000 liters) and its facility in Branchburg, New Jersey (66,000 liters).

However, global sales of Celltrion’s own products, including Zymfentra, are expected to expand alongside the addition of new pipeline products. Consequently, a significant portion of existing production capacity is likely to be allocated to the manufacturing of Celltrion’s own products. At the same time, rapidly increasing CDMO demand from global pharmaceutical companies is further raising the need for additional manufacturing capacity in the mid to long term.

Taking these factors into account, Celltrion is reviewing additional manufacturing facilities both domestically and overseas to ensure sufficient infrastructure and support growing global CDMO demand.

“This large-scale CMO agreement once again shows that Celltrion’s manufacturing quality and supply capabilities are recognized in the global market,” a Celltrion official said. “Considering the need to expand manufacturing for our own products, along with the growth of the CDMO business and increasing global demand, we plan to actively pursue additional manufacturing capacity to support future growth.”