As the global competition for biopharmaceutical manufacturing facilities is being reshaped, Samsung Biologics has maintained the No. 1 position in production capacity. Rapid expansions by Chinese corporations are continuing to change the upper ranks.
According to the Korea Biotechnology Industry Organization Bioeconomy Research Center on the 17th, the Incheon Bio Campus of Samsung Biologics ranked first by production capacity in BioPlan Associates' "Top 1000 Global Biopharmaceutical Facilities Index." The rankings were calculated based on capacity, not global contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) revenue.
No. 2 was the CL Biologics Shenzhen plant in China, No. 3 was the Vacaville, U.S., manufacturing facility of Genentech acquired by Lonza in Switzerland. No. 4 was Pfizer's plant in Ireland, and No. 5 was Boehringer Ingelheim's plant in Germany.
No. 6 was the CL Biologics Shanghai plant, No. 7 was Celltrion's Incheon plants 1, 2 and 3, Nos. 8 and 9 were Amgen's U.S. manufacturing facilities, and No. 10 was the German plant of Phyton Biotech in the U.S.
By production type, CDMOs account for a high share among the top 10 facilities. Samsung Biologics, CL Biologics, Lonza, Boehringer Ingelheim and Phyton Biotech were included, while in-house production was centered on Pfizer, Celltrion and Amgen. The production structure appears to be shifting toward CDMOs equipped with large-scale facilities.
Compared with 2022, Samsung Biologics maintained first place, and CL Biologics' Shenzhen and Shanghai plants, Celltrion and Phyton Biotech newly entered the top 10. Fujifilm Diosynth's Denmark plant in Japan, the Genentech/Roche plant in Germany, and the Belgium plant of GSK plc were pushed out of the rankings.
What stands out in particular is the rapid rise of CL Biologics. Founded in Shenzhen, China, in 2021, the company expanded capacity in a short period and broke into the upper ranks. It currently operates plants in Shenzhen and Shanghai, and as of 2024 its total capacity is about 700,000 liters. Of that, drug substance capacity is 424,500 liters at the Shenzhen plant and 270,000 liters at the Shanghai plant.
The two plants are integrated facilities capable of both drug substance and drug product manufacturing, with a focus on producing antibodies and antibody-drug conjugates. At the same time, they are building facilities for cell and gene therapies. The industry expects global production competition to intensify as Chinese CDMO corporations continue to expand their facilities.
Meanwhile, a total of 1,882 biopharmaceutical manufacturing facilities worldwide are registered in BioPlan data. By region, North America has the most with 697, followed by Europe with 456, China and Taiwan with 338, Asia with 169, and India with 95.