Lee Hyun-min, CEO of BTGen, a subsidiary of Dong-A Socio Holdings (000640.KS), said the company plans to invest 85 billion won received from the National Growth Fund into expanding its first plant to grow its biopharmaceutical contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) business.
Speaking at the 2026 BIO International Convention (BIO USA) held in San Diego on Tuesday, Lee stressed, "Rather than competing on scale with ultra-large CDMO companies, we will take a differentiated path through customer-tailored services."
BTGen will invest a total of 110 billion won into the first plant expansion, combining 85 billion won from the National Growth Fund with 25 billion won raised on its own. Through this, the company plans to expand its bioreactor capacity from the current 9,000 liters to 14,000 liters. "We are introducing facilities specialized for mid-scale and high-titer (high-concentration) products, and we expect to begin full operation by the end of the first quarter of 2028," Lee explained.
The expanded facility targets global customers. "We are continuously receiving cooperation proposals not only for the introduction of differentiated processes from potential clients but also from bio ventures and platform technology companies," Lee said.
Once the first plant expansion is complete, the company plans to begin construction of a second plant in earnest. At the second plant, BTGen plans to pursue a CDMO business for next-generation modalities such as antibody-drug conjugates (ADC) and antibody-oligonucleotide conjugates (AOC). "We will begin reviewing from early 2028 and, considering factors such as securing investment capacity, will choose one between ADC and AOC," Lee projected.
ADC is a technology that maximizes anticancer effects by attaching toxic drugs to antibodies that target cancer cells, while AOC is characterized by combining nucleic acid therapeutics to minimize side effects. "We will establish a strategy with a business model differentiated from large companies like Samsung Biologics, which have secured large-scale facilities," Lee stressed.
BTGen has decided not to pursue an initial public offering (IPO) for the time being. "With the government taking a negative stance on duplicate listings of subsidiaries, and since we have secured investment funds through the National Growth Fund, the need for an IPO is low," Lee said. "We will exclude the IPO from our priorities and focus on the plant expansion work."
