Celltrion Group said that it plans to build a biopharmaceutical factory in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China.

Celltrion CEO and Vice President Kee Woo-sung (left) and Chen Ping, director of the administrative committee of the East Lake High-tech Development Zone in Wuhan, signed a contract to build a plant in Wuhan, Hubei Province, on Monday.

According to the company, Wuhan is already emerging as China's bio-industry advance base with more than 300 pharmaceutical bio R&D centers and enterprises established in the city.

Celltrion Group plans to establish a local subsidiary with the support of Wuhan and Hubei Province officials and build a biopharmaceutical production facility with a capacity of 120,000 liters, which will the largest biopharmaceutical plant in China when completed.

The plant will not only develop and manufacture biopharmaceuticals but also carry out large-scale contract manufacturing organization (CMO) work for the Chinese market. The company will also build a direct network for drug sales in China.

Celltrion Group plans to invest more than 600 billion won ($513.2 million) in the plant over five years until 2025. The fund will be financed by the group's cash reserves and external investment.

"We will continue to invest in facility facilities and expand investment into product development," the company said. "The company expects that

China’s biopharmaceutical industry will grow rapidly as the Beijing government has added several biopharmaceuticals in its National Reimbursement Drug List since 2017, and the Chinese experts speculate that biopharmaceuticals will be included in its national bidding system soon."

Celltrion has selected the site to build the plant and plan to hold a ground-breaking ceremony in the first half of this year, the company added.

"China is a market with a great demand for high-quality medicines and has the second-largest biopharmaceutical market in the world," Celltrion CEO and Vice President Kee Woo-sung said. "We will supply world-class Celltrion biosimilar medicines to Chinese patients in the shortest possible time."

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