South Korea’s biosimilar firm Celltrion will triple the capacity of its third plant, stretching it out from originally planned 120,000 liters to 360,000 liters to meet growing demand for its drugs.

The new plan was revealed by Celltrion chairman Seo Jung-jin at the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco on Wednesday.

Shares of Celltrion closed Friday up 11.24 percent at 341,500 won.

Seo said the third plant to be located out of Korea will be built three times larger than originally planned to achieve an economy of scale and cost effectiveness. The plant originally planned to be built near its two other factories in Songdo, will be built overseas due to request from its overseas partner. He did not disclose any candidates for the sites.

Discussion will begin in the first half of this year to start the construction of the new plant from the second half, Seo told reporters. Once the third plant is completed, Celltrion will lead the pack in capacity beyond global competitors such as Lonza (280,000 liters), Boehringer Ingelheim (330,000 liters) and Samsung BioLogics (364,000 liters).

The company currently runs its first two production plants at full capacity in Songdo, Incheon. The first plant has annual capacity of 50,000 liters and the second one 90,000 liters. Some of its orders are handled by third party contractors overseas.

By Kim Hye-soon and Minu Kim

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