Biopharmaceutical Drugs Are “Breaking the Ceiling”: Seize Celltrion's Tech Scouting Opportunity to Take Your Innovation Global!

Have you heard of this modest yet extraordinary company named Celltrion? If you’ve been keeping up with what’s happening in the global biopharmaceutical field, you may know of them. This company from South Korea keeps a low profile, but its amazing comeback in the biosimilars market has allowed it to successfully break through industry barriers in just over 20 years. Celltrion has now become Asia’s biopharmaceutical giant, capable of competing with century-old pharmaceutical companies from Europe and US.

Celltrion, a leading global biopharmaceutical company

Who is Celltrion?

Celltrion boasts a multifaceted and resilient business model. It not only excels in drug R&D outsourcing but also invests heavily in self-developed biological and chemical drugs. In 2023, it successfully launched the world’s first antibody biosimilar approved by the European Union. Now, as one of the top three biosimilar companies in the world, Celltrion continues to expand its reach, now venturing in the realm of innovative new drugs and vaccines, gradually making its name as a comprehensive biopharmaceutical leader. With its cutting-edge biologics R&D and production capabilities, Celltrion has established a strong network across Europe and the US, cementing its position as a leading force in the biopharmaceutical industry.

What makes Celltrion’s story particularly compelling is its unconventional beginning. The company was founded by a former industrial engineer who had no formal background in medicine or life sciences. He also faced career setbacks during the Asian financial crisis. Despite these obstacles, his strong entrepreneurial vision and resilience kept the company going. Over time, Celltrion grew to challenge the dominance of long-established European and American pharmaceutical firms, successfully introducing its products into the global mainstream market.

Celltrion’s success story proves that anyone can make a comeback in the biopharmaceutical industry. By sharing their story, we hope to bring some inspiration to innovative pharmaceutical companies who are eager to achieve breakthroughs.

From an overlooked startup to industry leader:

A desperate attempt to swim against the tide

At the turn of the millennium, South Korea’s economy saw a downturn after the Dot-com bubble burst. The venture capital market was almost frozen, and even the automobile manufacturers, which were pillar industries, had to lay off tens of thousands of employees. In such a difficult environment, 42-year-old unemployed Mr Seo Jung-jin found several former colleagues who were also laid off and set his sights on the field of biomedicine. He had neither a doctorate in pharmacy, nor any work background in pharmaceutical companies. He was just an automotive engineer obsessed with manufacturing processes. His knowledge of the biological field mostly came from media reports.

However, Mr Seo firmly believed in the notion that “if don’t know something, you should learn how to do it yourself”. Thus, he began to actively contact large pharmaceutical companies in South Korea, Japan, Europe and the United States, whilst frequently participating in academic seminars. He soon realised that the drug patent cliff in more than ten years would bring about an explosive growth in biosimilars, and lower costs would be the key to success. However, almost no one in South Korea at the time agreed with this idea, and no one was optimistic about him. After all, the R&D of biological drugs not only requires huge funds. It also involves extremely high technical barriers and large monopolistic competition from European and American giants. In everyone’s eyes, this was undoubtedly a “Valley of Death” that was difficult to cross.

Despite this, Mr Seo recognised the trend and forged ahead. He buried himself in hundreds of medical textbooks and even took anatomy classes in medical school to increase his professional knowledge. He spent all his money on experimental funds and even mortgaged his assets. When funds getting tight, he was almost at his wit’s end. Even so, Mr Seo and his friends gritted their teeth and persisted through this project that was seen as “destined for failure” by the outside world. Perhaps it was fate that, by chance, they reached a three-party cooperation with a Korean tobacco company and a US biotechnology company seeking diversified development. This then led to the establishment of Celltrion in 2002. Mr Seo Jung-jin’s entrepreneurial experience full of hardships and perseverance had kicked off Celltrion’s legacy.

Seo Jung-jin, Chairman of Celltrion Group & Joint Chairperson of the Board of Directors at Celltrion Inc.

Three years after it was established, Celltrion faced a major turning point when it received the largest biopharmaceutical order in Asia at the time from Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS). With the experience and reputation accumulated from this cooperation, the company has successively taken on more contracts from major international pharmaceutical companies. This enabled Celltrion to grow rapidly. In the following two years, it became the first and largest Asian FDA-certified biopharmaceutical foundry that it is today.

Since then, Celltrion has been making great strides. It launched the world's first EU-approved monoclonal antibody biosimilar of infliximab (Remsima), followed by that of bevacizumab (Vegzelma), adalimumab (Yuflyma), Regkirona for COVID-19, rituximab (Truxima) and trastuzumab (Herzuma). These products directly challenged the star products of major European and American pharmaceutical companies and gradually seized the market share that the giants had long monopolised.

At present, Celltrion's products have been successfully sold in more than 120 countries around the globe, and the number of antibody biosimilars approved in the US and Europe has reached double digits. In 2024, the company's sales hit a new high of US$2.5 billion, ranking among the top three in the world's most competitive biosimilars. With such growth, Celltrion aims to rise to become one of the top 10 global pharmaceutical players and achieve ₩24 trillion in sales.

Celltrion Inc.'s Headquarters in Incheon, South Korea

Celltrion’s road to success, which is comparable to the plot of a brilliant Korean drama, is by no means an accidental miracle. It is the result of a series of forward-looking decisions, down-to-earth attitudes, and international collaborative cooperation. For innovative pharmaceutical companies that are standing on the threshold of internationalisation and who are eager to stand out in the global market, Celltrion's experience is far more than a role model — it gives encouragement and inspiration.

How can we learn from Celltrion’s experience?

Lesson 1:

Asian pharmaceutical companies are expanding internationally, but their cost advantage alone is not enough to ensure lasting success.

The key to Celltrion's success lies in building its reputation in the industry through high-standard OEM orders. More importantly, it is vital to quickly break away from "OEM dependence" and overcome high-barrier fields such as core R&D and clinical trials. By aligning with internationally recognised standards and consistently demonstrating strong performance, Celltrion was able to develop its own competitive advantage.

Lesson 2:

Highly trusted and collaborative international partners

serve as "shock absorbers", helping to stabilise operations and mitigate risks.

Celltrion was able to quickly expand into the global market thanks to high trust in the international cooperation network it had set up in its early days. In addition to cooperating with multinational giants, it also established in-depth cooperation with CROs, CMOs, distributors and government medical insurance departments, integrating risk control, resource integration and market development.

For all pharmaceutical companies, globalisation is not only about exporting products, but also about the comprehensive internationalisation of service, data and trust chains. Selecting high-quality partners and designing a win-win mechanism are vital for success.

We recommend innovators to focus on two major aspects: Firstly, after taking clinical research as the entry point, your company can jointly build overseas real-world research projects with companies from a global standpoint to enhance the international recognition of data. Secondly, innovators can co-develop new products and explore technology-complementary cooperation.

Lesson 3:

Seize the opportunity and take decisive action

Since its inception, Celltrion has been guided by a clear goal towards globalisation, achieving breakthroughs through fast-paced international cooperation. This concept of actively embracing the international market and pursuing pragmatic and efficient cooperation has enabled it to gain a firm foothold in the highly competitive biopharmaceutical field.

Instead of hesitating and “waiting for everything to fall into place”, it is better to learn from Celltrion's experience: set clear strategic goals as a guide, leverage on your own combined advantages, actively seek international cooperation, and seize market opportunities. After all, in the wave of globalisation, actual action is always the best way to overcome difficulties and achieve breakthroughs.

Celltrion is looking to collaborate with biopharma startups

Innovative therapies in antibody oncology, peptides, nucleic acid and drug delivery systems wanted!

Innovators around the world in the pharmaceutical industry, hurry up and seize this collaboration opportunity!

Innovators, Don’t Miss This Chance!

Celltrion has commissioned VentureBlick to scout for innovative biopharmaceutical companies all around the world that are open to co-development, investment, licensing and commercialisation opportunities in 4 major innovation areas:

1. Antibody oncology therapeutics

2. Peptide platforms in immunology and metabolism

3. Nucleic acid therapeutics 

4. Precision drug delivery systems 

Why is Celltrion searching?

Despite significant advances in biologics and precision medicine, current therapies across oncology, immunology, and metabolic diseases face persistent challenges in specificity, delivery, durability, and safety. These roadblocks ultimately delay and limit the impact of innovative drug therapies, reduce patient outcomes, and increase systemic costs – obstacles that innovators like you might be facing in preparing your drug therapies for market-readiness.

Celltrion is actively seeking next-generation drug therapy technologies that can overcome these limitations and provide more effective, targeted, and patient-centric treatment solutions.

Why should companies collaborate with Celltrion?

Flexible cooperation model: Unlike some global giants that often demand "global exclusivity", Celltrion prefers different collaboration models such as co-development, regional authorisation, clinical collaboration, etc., which is more friendly to small and medium-sized enterprises.

Reliable funding support: Celltrion has a track record of successful partnerships with companies like Pinot Bio and Abpro, in addition to having a market cap that is exceeding US$24 billion. Its CEO & Founder Mr Seo is also currently the 4th richest person in Korea (according to Forbes’ Korea’s 50 Richest list), with a net worth of over US$6.3 billion. This positions Celltrion as a company that is well-equipped to support future collaborations with innovators that align with their strategic interests.

Advantages for biopharma startups: Celltrion’s strategic and global network make it a strong partner for biopharma startups looking to expand internationally. With a mature system in CMC (Chemistry, Manufacturing, and Controls) and GMP (Good Manufacturing Practice) production of biologics, Celltrion offers significant production and regulatory capabilities. Startups, especially those excelling in early-stage discovery and cutting-edge technologies like AI, have a great potential to collaborate with Celltrion. By leveraging its extensive experience and infrastructure, biopharma startups can accelerate innovation and scale their solutions to global markets.  

Innovators, seize this opportunity to collaborate with a global biopharmaceutical giant and accelerate your entry into the international mainstream market! 

Apply here by 30 June 2025!

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