Daewoong Bio is planning to enter the contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) business through large-scale investment.
Daewoong Bio said Monday that it will invest 146 billion won ($117.9 million) to build a new biological drug plant in Hyangnam, Gyeonggi Province, where the company has an existing factory.
When adding the land purchase fee of 2.9 billion won, the plant construction is a massive project for the company as it accounts for about half of Daewoong Bio's equity capital of 320.7 billion won reported in 2021.
"Pharmaceutical companies are extending new drug raw material synthesis as a model to shorten development timelines," the company said in a public filing on Monday.
"Daewoong Bio researches and develops from non-clinical raw materials to clinical raw materials with processes optimized to meet the needs of various customers, and provides a one-stop full package service through chemistry, manufacturing, and controls (CMC) research."
The new plant will become Daewoong Bio's fourth plant. The company has factories in Hyangnam and Anseong, Korea, and in Sichuan, China.
The existing Hyangnam plant, completed in December 2010, received good manufacturing practice (GMP) certification from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety in April 2011.
With a total production capacity of 200,000 liters, the Hyangnam plant is a general active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) manufacturing facility dedicated to manufacturing ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA), which is a raw material for Ursa, a hepatic protector, and Fexuprazan hydrochloride, the main ingredient for Fexuclue, its gastroesophageal reflux drug.
The Anseong plant has an annual production capacity of 400 million tablets and serves as Daewoong's base of operation for manufacturing finished medicines products for central nervous systems (CNS) and metabolic diseases, such as gliatamin tablets, atorvastatin tablets, and clopidogrel tablets.
The Sacheon plant is equipped with quality control, research, finance, and technical teams, as well as raw material production, and has capabilities ranging from production, quality, and facility management, to R&D.
Meanwhile, as of 2021, Daewoong Bio recorded annual sales of 389.2 billion won, an operating profit of 82.33 billion won, and a net profit of 65 billion won. Annual research and development (R&D) expenses were 471.96 million won.