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LOTTE BIOLOGICS and EXCELLGENE today announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding to collaborate in the biopharmaceutical Contract Development Organization (CDO) business. With this agreement, LOTTE BIOLOGICS will be able to proactively promote its CDO business by attracting a large number of customers ahead of its long-term strategy of expanding its Syracuse plant and constructing a factory in Korea.

The companies will join forces to provide ‘end-to-end’ Contract Development Manufacturing Organization (CDMO) services to their clients, from pharmaceutical cell line development to large-scale contract manufacturing. EXCELLGENE will provide clients with services such as cell line generation and development of high-yielding processes, while LOTTE BIOLOGICS will provide clients with Master Cell Bank services and clinical and commercial drug manufacturing. Details of the agreement are confidential.

EXCELLGENE, a global leader in cell line and process development since 2001, has served hundreds of clients, including some of the largest pharma and biotech companies. With its proprietary CHOExpress® and HEKExpress® cell platforms, the Swiss-based company has the capacity to develop over one hundred GMP-ready cell lines per year.

LOTTE BIOLOGICS, established in June last year, is now expanding its business to become a top 10 global CDMO company. In January, the company completed the acquisition of global pharmaceutical giant Bristol-Myers Squibb’s Syracuse manufacturing facility in the U.S., and announced plans to build a megaplant with a total capacity of 360,000 liters in Korea by 2034 during a 2023 JPMorgan Healthcare Conference.

Richard Lee, CEO of LOTTE BIOLOGICS, said, “To become a global TOP 10 CDMO company, it is important to strengthen our CDO capabilities, which requires a lot of time and expertise.” “Through this meaningful agreement with EXCELLGENE, which has experience in projects with leading global biopharmaceutical companies, we will bolster our competitive bidding capabilities of CDMO”

Dr. Maria Wurm, CEO of EXCELLGENE adds: "We are thrilled to announce this agreement with LOTTE BIOLOGICS. This collaboration presents an exciting opportunity for EXCELLGENE to strengthen its service offerings in the US and in Asia. Both companies will bring a wealth of expertise, allowing us to jointly deliver an end-to-end DNA-to-GMP solution to our clients. We look forward to working closely with LOTTE BIOLOGICS, and are confident this partnership will benefit both organizations."