Construction of Hyangnam factory with annual production capacity of 700 million tablets begins... Target for full-scale operation in 2029
Becoming one of Korea's top 10 pharmaceutical companies by 2036... Expanding growth through new drugs and M&A
(Hwaseong = Yonhap News) Reporter Shin Seon-mi = HLB Group Chairman Jin Yang-gon said on the 12th, "We plan to go beyond a company that develops new anti-cancer drugs and leap forward to become a company that stably supplies good drugs to people around the world. We will implement HLB's corporate spirit in more detail at the Hyangnam factory."
◇ 55 billion won invested to produce 700 million tablets per year… Full-scale operation in 2029
HLB Pharmaceutical [047920] has begun building production infrastructure to achieve '1 trillion won in sales' by 2036 and become one of the top 10 pharmaceutical companies in Korea.
HLB Pharmaceuticals held a groundbreaking ceremony for its new factory in Hyangnam-eup, Hwaseong-si, Gyeonggi-do on this day.
HLB Pharmaceuticals will invest a total of 55 billion won in the construction of the new Hyangnam factory. The new factory will be built on a 31,244㎡ site with a total floor area of 11,931㎡.
A GMP (Pharmaceutical Manufacturing and Quality Management Standards) factory building and auxiliary facilities will be provided from the first basement level to the third floor above ground.
The target production capacity is approximately 700 million tablets per year.
This is three times the existing Namyangju plant’s annual production capacity of approximately 250 million tablets.
HLB Pharmaceutical plans to proceed with construction with the goal of obtaining approval for use of the building at the end of next year, and then go through related procedures such as GMP compliance determination and begin full operation of the new factory in 2029.
The construction of the new factory is intended to expand the mid- to long-term production base.
HLB Pharmaceutical recorded sales of 205.6 billion won last year, opening the era of annual sales exceeding 200 billion won for the first time.
Sales in the first half of this year reached 127.9 billion won, the highest in the first half of the year.
HLB Pharmaceuticals plans to strengthen its cost competitiveness by expanding the proportion of its own pharmaceutical production through the operation of the new plant.
We plan to reduce consignment production costs and increase production efficiency, while also securing the production capacity necessary to launch new products and expand the contract manufacturing (CMO) business.
Hyangnam New Factory is also used as a core production base for HLB Group's pharmaceutical business.
HLB Pharmaceuticals is planning to support the production of new products and business expansion at the group level while expanding the mid- to long-term manufacturing infrastructure in connection with adjacent sites.
◇ Target of 1 trillion won in sales by 2036 and one of the top 10 pharmaceutical companies in Korea… Expansion of new drugs and M&A
HLB Pharmaceuticals set a goal of achieving sales of 1 trillion won in 2036 and becoming one of the top 10 pharmaceutical companies in Korea, using the construction of a new factory as a stepping stone.
Based on expansion of production capacity and improvement of profitability, we decided to strengthen the prescription drug business and gradually promote the development of improved new drugs, introduction of new products, and strategic mergers and acquisitions (M&A).
We plan to focus on improving the profitability of the pharmaceutical business from next year to 2028 and strengthen the competitiveness of the prescription drug business through the development of improved new drugs and expansion of general hospital sales from 2029 to 2031.
Afterwards, it expanded its product portfolio in the fields of anticancer, urology, and rare diseases, and accelerated growth through the introduction of large products and strategic mergers and acquisitions.
Park Jae-hyung, CEO of HLB Pharmaceuticals, said, “The new Hyangnam plant is a key investment to respond to the rapidly increasing demand for pharmaceuticals and strengthen manufacturing competitiveness.” He added, “Based on a stable production base, we will expand the production of high-value-added medicines to lay the foundation for growth to achieve sales of 1 trillion won in 2036 and become one of the top 10 pharmaceutical companies in Korea.”
HLB Group received attention once in September when HLB's U.S. subsidiary Elevar Therapeutics received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its targeted anti-cancer drug 'Ripicktu' (ingredient name: lirafugratinib).
Regarding this, Chairman Jin explained at the event, "This is a great achievement 19 years since we began developing new drugs in earnest," and said, "I am confident that we will soon receive approval for a second new anticancer drug."
