바이오스펙테이터

바이오스펙테이터 Jongwon Jang 기자

Celltrion Group Chairman Seo Jung-jin announced his entry into the Chinese market in front of investors around the world and unveiled detailed plans to do so. The company plans to build a 120,000-liter biomedicine production facility in China and establish a network of direct drug sales.

At this plant, they will develop insulin biosimilars for the global diabetes market and promote CMOs.

Chairman Seo was the second in the world to unveil the '2030 Vision Roadmap,' featuring the Group's new growth engines, including strategic products, key pipelines, product launch and sales strategies, at the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco, USA on the 15th(local time). He announced that they would directly enter the Chinese market, the world’s second largest market for biomedicine.

The JPMorgan Healthcare Conference, which marks its 38th anniversary this year, is the world's largest bio-investment event, where pharmaceutical and bio companies gather in one place to announce last year's results and plans for this year to investors in each country. Celltrion Group has been participating in the event since 2010, and for the first time this year they have been assigned a venue for the presentation to the Grand Ballroom, the main venue.

Chairman Seo mainly introduced ‘2030 Vision Roadmap’, which is being staged by 2030, such as ▲ biosimilar, ▲ prime similar, ▲ new drug, and ▲ U-health care, as the group’s future growth strategy.

Regarding "Remsima SC," which is the first biomedical drug for infliximab, Seo said, "We are going to start operating a global direct printing system starting with Germany in February this year." He added, "We expect Remsima SC to record a 20 percent market share in the TNF-α market worth 50 trillion won and create a new market of 10 trillion won."

The Chinese market is also in full swing. Chairman Seo said, "The Celltrion Group will directly enter the Chinese market and is planning to announce major details in the near future as we are about to make a final agreement with the Chinese provincial government." The plan included building the largest biomedicine production facility in China with a capacity of 120,000 liters and establishing a direct sales network.

Seo has announced that he will develop an insulin biosimilar through this plant and enter the diabetes market. This means entering the microbial-based biosimilar market. "We will enter the diabetes market worth $ 40 billion (about 46.5 trillion won) worldwide through our own and joint development with license-in." and emphasized of being a “leader group of insulin biosimilar” .

They will also build a portfolio of 16 products by 2030 to promote producing biomedicines and becoming large-scale CMOs for the Chinese domestic market. Celltrion is currently undergoing clinical trials with the approval of the Remsima Investigational New Drug (IND) from the China Food and Drug Administration (CFDA) in May 2017.

Seo's keyword in the announcement was 'Game Changer'. Celltrion will move beyond the first mover in the biosimilar field and become a company that changes the market. He stressed that he would transform the Celltrion Group into a comprehensive biopharmaceutical company that encompasses biobetters, vaccines, and new drugs beyond biosimilars.

Seo said, "This is the last year before I retire, so this will be the last announcement at the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference. The new chairman will be in the announcement next time. Nonetheless, Celltrion will move forward to save more patients by developing drugs at a lower cost than the purpose of making money."