Celltrion commits $478M to former Eli Lilly API site in New Jersey

Celltrion, a South Korea–based biosimilars manufacturer, announced it will invest up to 700 billion KRW ($478 million) to expand production capacity at its recently acquired active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) manufacturing facility from Eli Lilly in response to U.S. tariff policies.

The company said the expansion at the 37-acre production facility in Branchburg, New Jersey will commence immediately upon the deal closing and will be executed in multiple phases. The first and second phases of the expansion will both include the addition of three 11,000 liters bioreactors and will be rounded out by an additional capacity of 66,000 liters. These added bioreactors will result in a final production capacity of  132,000 liters, Celltrion said.

The API manufacturing facility aims to establish an “integrated value chain covering production, packaging, logistics, and sales within the United States,” according to Celltrion. The site includes four buildings and 10 acres of vacant land which provides the company with space to potentially expand, as it considers the construction of an additional manufacturing facility at a later date.

Following its initial agreement to acquire the facility in September, Celltrion said the deal will allow it to commence operations immediately while retaining the site’s existing workforce. The company also said it expects it will take at least a year to validate the site before shifting the production of its products to the facility in Branchburg.

Earlier this month, Celltrion received merger clearance from Ireland’s Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) for its acquisition of Lilly’s Branchburg facility. The transaction requires business combination approvals from both the U.S. and Irish governments. The company noted that only U.S. approval remains pending and that it does not anticipate significant challenges in completing the process.