SK said it plans to sign an exclusive contract by this year-end to invest in The Center for Breakthrough Medicines (CBM), a Philadelphia-based contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) specializing in gene and cell therapies.
SK expects to emerge as a leading gene and cell therapy CMO in the U.S. and Europe with the deal, following its acquisition of the French CDMO Yposkesi in March.
Gene and cell therapies are personalized therapy for intractable diseases, including cancer and genetic disorders, showing high growth thanks to excellent therapeutic effects.
More than half of biopharmaceuticals under clinical development in the U.S. and Europe are gene and cell treatments. According to consulting firms, including Deloitte, the market is expected to show annual growth of 25 percent until 2025, overtaking the antibody therapeutics that account for the largest proportion of the current biopharmaceutical market.
CBM plans to build GMP facilities for gene and cell therapies with the space of more than 700,000 square feet, the world's largest single facility, by 2025 with SK's investment and hire an additional 2,000 employees over the next four years.
SK aims to grow as a leading global CMO in the synthetic and bio sector through strategic investments in innovative and high-value-added bio CMO businesses with high technological barriers on top of its synthetic drug production capabilities.
SK is now enhancing the effect of the integrated operation of its global subsidiaries, such as SK Biotek, SK Biotek Ireland, AMPAC Fine Chemicals, and Yposkesi, under SK Pharmteco established in California in 2019.
The company established a synthetic drug production system in the U.S., Europe, and Korea in 2018 and is rated as one of the top five global CMOs.
"We have secured a core axis of the financial story of our CMO business to complete the value chain of synthetic and biopharmaceutical business by 2025 by establishing major bases in the U.S., Europe, and Asia," Lee Dong-hoon, head of Bio Investment Center at SK, said. "SK will be reborn as the top global CMO for gene and cell therapy through intensive fostering of bio CMO business."
CBM Executive Chairman Brian O'Neill also said, "The partnership with SK will have a positive impact on humankind by lowering the cost of gene and cell therapy to a point where everyone can afford for."