Nam Hyun-woo has worked as a staff writer at The Korea Times since 2013, mostly covering business and politics. He currently belongs to the Business Desk where he covers topics such as emerging tech, AI, ICT and Korea's chaebol community. Prior to joining the team, he was the paper's correspondent for the presidential office of Korea during the Yoon Suk Yeol and Moon Jae-in administrations.
Celltrion acquires Eli Lilly bio plant in New Jersey
Celltrion Chairman Seo Jung-jin speaks during an online press conference, Tuesday. Captured from Celltrion YouTube livestream
By Nam Hyun-woo
$1 bil. investment to insulate biotech from US pharma tariffs
Celltrion said Tuesday it has signed a deal to acquire Eli Lilly’s biopharmaceutical manufacturing plant in Branchburg, New Jersey, in a preemptive move to shield itself from proposed U.S. pharma tariffs.
In a regulatory filing, the biotech firm said its U.S. unit, Celltrion USA, has acquired the full stake of ImClone Systems, an Eli Lilly subsidiary running the plant, for $330 million.
Celltrion Chairman Seo Jung-jin said during an online press conference that the company will invest a total of 1.4 trillion won ($1 billion) to run and acquire the plant and expand its facilities in the near future. The up-front amount is 700 billion won, including the acquisition price and early operation costs, with the remaining 700 billion won to be used for expansion.
“As the Donald Trump administration demands tariffs for global Big Pharma, I thought ‘Made in USA’ could be the answer,” Seo said. “Since the acquisition covers the costly purification lines and the transfer of technical staff, the company was able to save a significant amount of expenses.”
The acquisition came just months after Seo announced in May that Celltrion would transfer two years’ worth of stockpiles to the U.S. and secure a local manufacturing facility to cushion the tariff impact.
The plant is already a fully operational drug substance manufacturing facility that can start operating immediately upon acquisition. Built on a 148,700-square-meter site, it comprises four buildings, including production facilities, a logistics warehouse, a technology support center and an operations building.
The site also has about 36,360 square meters of unused land reserved for capacity expansion, giving it the flexibility to respond to future growth in market demand.
When the expansion is completed, the New Jersey plant will be able to secure manufacturing capacity 1.5 times that of Celltrion’s Incheon Plant 2.
The deal also includes the full succession of existing employment, allowing the facility to continue running without workforce gaps and maintain operational stability and productivity.
Seo noted that the two sides “agreed in principle” that half of the New Jersey plant’s lines will continue producing drug substances for Eli Lilly products as a contract manufacturing organization (CMO), while the other half will be used for Celltrion products. He said this will help recoup the initial investment more quickly while enabling the company to establish an integrated supply chain for production and sales in the U.S.
Celltrion expects that the plant will gain U.S. authorities’ approval within this year, and will be able to manufacture Celltrion and Eli Lilly products by the end of next year.
Celltrion's Plant 1 in Incheon / Courtesy of Celltrion
“We expect the plant will generate operating profit on par with that of other CMOs,” Seo said. “We have already finished talks on CMO pricing and other details before the final contract.”
Seo said the investment will not bring a significant change to the company’s annual sales guidance of 4.6 trillion won, as the plant’s CMO business will generate profits.
“If the Trump administration imposes 200 percent tariffs on pharmaceuticals, the CMO business in the U.S. will gain greater traction,” Seo said. “As we have hedged all tariff risks through the acquisition, we expect to achieve the targeted sales growth this year compared to last year and see the company continue to grow as planned in 2026.”