Celltrion pledges $800M to expand manufacturing capacity at South Korea headquarters

To meet increasing global demand for its biologics portfolio, Celltrion plans to invest KRW 1 trillion (approximately $800 million) to build Plants 4 and 5 at its Songdo headquarters in Incheon, South Korea. The manufacturer of biosimilars said the investment is meant to support its pipeline products and contract manufacturing organization (CMO) business.

Expanding sales of Celltrion’s products and its growing CMO business have put pressure on the company’s available capacity prompting the need for the capital expenditure, which will be implemented in phases through 2030, according to the announcement.

The new Songdo plants will leverage automation systems and smart factory technologies to maximize production efficiency and operational flexibility, enabling a “wide range of production capabilities, from small-batch, multi-product production to large-scale manufacturing,” Celltrion said.

In addition to adding Plants 4 and 5 at its South Korean headquarters with a total capacity of 180,000 liters, the company will fund a 75,000-liter expansion at its U.S. manufacturing site. The company’s global network includes facilities in Songdo, Incheon and Branchburg, New Jersey, currently totaling 316,000 liters of capacity.

In November 2025, Celltrion announced plans to expand its U.S. manufacturing capabilities with a $478 million investment in a recently acquired Eli Lilly biologics drug substance facility in Branchburg. Celltrion’s planned expansion of the site has been increased from the originally proposed 66,000 liters to 75,000 liters, bringing the facility’s total production capacity for drug substances (DS) from 66,000 liters to 141,000 liters.

“As demand for local biologics manufacturing in the United States continues to grow rapidly, the Branchburg facility is expected to play a key role in supporting Celltrion’s supply of its products in the U.S. and expanding its CMO business,” the company said, adding that the site will help mitigate potential trade risks such as tariffs.

In a letter to shareholders last month, Celltrion said it started full-scale production of Lilly CMO products across all lines and initiated validation procedures required for the manufacturing of its own products.

“By integrating local manufacturing with its direct commercial network, we plan to establish a fully integrated system capable of supplying locally manufactured products to the U.S. market in due course,” the company said.

Celltrion’s company-wide DS capacity will increase to 571,000 liters under its expansion plans, with the expectation of achieving 100% internalization of DS production by 2031 while realizing “significant” additional cost savings.

Drug product manufacturing

In addition to investing in DS production, Celltrion is also expanding its drug product (DP) manufacturing capabilities in Songdo and Yesan Industrial Complex, Chungcheongnam-do, which are expected to result in 90% internalization of its global DP supply. 

The new DP plant at the Songdo campus, which is currently under construction, has reached over 70% completion and is slated to be finished this year, with commercial operations scheduled to begin in 2027.

“The facility will serve as a DP-only production plant and will be capable of producing up to 6.5 million liquid vials annually,” the company said. “Together with the existing DP line at Plant 2, which has a maximum annual output of 4 million vials, Celltrion will secure total DP capacity of approximately 10.5 million vials per year in Songdo alone.” 

In Yesan, Celltrion has finalized the site for a new DP manufacturing facility and plans to begin design work this year. With the completion of the plant and the planned expansion of pre-filled syringe manufacturing facilities by Celltrion Pharm, the company expects to internalize approximately 90% of its global DP supply volume “enabling substantial cost savings compared with overseas DP contract manufacturing.”