Korean biotech companies are jumping into the drug contract manufacturing (CMO) business and increasing their production capacity to secure a stable source of income.

Many bio ventures in the nation, such as Bioneer, Humedix, ViGenCell, and Genome & Company, have already begun expanding or preparing to secure more production facilities, following the road other large domestic biopharmaceutical companies had taken.

Biotech companies tend to look for a chance to enter the CMO business to generate stable profits compared to the new drug candidates under development, which is difficult to expect visible income.

Bioneer is near the end of its construction of the global center in Daejeon that started in Nov. 2020. The company expects to have an eight-time larger production capacity once it begins operating the facilities.

"When we complete building up the global center plant, we would be able to make eight-times more of the current supply of nucleic acid extractors, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) devices, and diagnostic reagents," Bioneer official said. "Our newly built center will allow us to take large-scale orders from overseas for manufacturing products worth up to 1 trillion won ($855 million) per year."

Humedix also rushed to expand its lines for making vials at the second plant located in Jecheon, North Chungcheong Province. The company's decision to expand the capacity was to produce more than 100 million doses per month.

The company joined the Huons Global Consortium and is now in charge of filling vials and packaging Russia's Sputnik V Covid-19 vaccine. Once the expansion is completed, the company will secure the capacity to accept more CMO deals and increase manufacturing existing products, including Revitalrex and Hudaxin, along with Sputnik V production.

Boryung Pharmaceutical's affiliate ViGenCell started constructing a facility for accelerating clinical trials and mass production of its immune cell therapy this month. The facility, which is scheduled to be completed in the first half of 2022, would have the capacity for mass production with seven cleanrooms and an automated process system.

ViGenCell designed the plant to include a facility for living modified organisms, making the company one of the few in Korea that can produce cell therapy and cell gene therapy together.

Another domestic biotech company, Genome & Company, acquired the management rights of List Labs, a U.S.-based company providing CDMO service in the microbiome, saying it would leap an integrated pharmaceutical company by increasing its mid-to-long-term production capacity.

Based on stable profits from the partnership with List Labs, Genome & Company plan to develop its flagship microbiome treatment and reach annual sales of 100 billion won by 2025 through additional production capacity expansion.

Other large domestic drug makers like Samsung Biologics and SK Bioscience have one the largest production facilities globally and highlighted by consignment production of multinational pharmaceutical companies' Covid-19 vaccines are also pushing their plans for expanding capacity.