Lotte Biologics investing $3B to increase production capacity in South Korea

Lotte Biologics is allocating fresh investments in its own home ground to build three new production plants. The leading pharma company is spending $3 billion for the new facilities that will be constructed in South Korea.

Lotte Biologics is aiming to complete the new factories by the year 2030, and the plan is to build a bio-industrial complex where it will house the three plants. The company is expecting a production capacity of 360,000 liters of anti-body medicines per year in Korea.

As per Pulse News, Lotte Biologic’s chief executive officer, Lee Won Jik, revealed the company’s mid and long-term plan when he attended the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco. At that time, he said that they would bolster their business competitiveness to become a major competitor in the contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) market. The company’s strategy to achieve this is to acquire assets and build new facilities.

To set its plan in motion, the firm will start the construction of its first plant in the Lotte Bio Campus production complex within the second half of this year. This first factory is set to operate for commercial production by 2027. As for the entire complex, it is expected to be completed in 2034.

Lotte Biologics planned this new investment after completing its acquisition of Bristol Myers Squibb’s manufacturing plant in Syracuse, New York. It purchased the facility for $160 million earlier this month as part of its strategy to expand overseas.

“Each plant will require approximately $1 billion in investment for a total of $3 billion invested by 2030,” Lee said during the presentation. The three plants will each have a 120,000-liter capacity, for a combined 360,000 liters.” Korea Joongang Daily quoted Lotte Biologics’ CEO as saying during the conference with regards to its latest investment in South Korea.

He added, “While the locations have not been announced, the bio company plans to start the construction of the first plant in the second half of this year. The first plant is set to start commercial manufacturing in 2027 after completing the facility in the second half of 2025. It aims to run all of three factories by 2034 and generate $3 billion in sales annually with a profit margin of 35 percent.”