"Opportunities to participate in global projects have grown significantly since the SK Bioscience (302440) acquisition. To achieve 500 million euros in revenue by 2028-2029, we are reviewing both capacity expansion and mergers and acquisitions (M&A)."
Federico Pollano, chief commercial officer (CCO) of IDT Biologika, said this in an interview with Seoul Economic Daily at the Bio International Convention (BIO USA) held in San Diego on Wednesday. "We are discussing various measures to proactively respond to market growth," he said. SK Bioscience had earlier acquired IDT Biologika, a German contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO), in 2024.
Pollano said that participating in global public projects and securing new clients had become much easier since joining SK Bioscience. The two companies currently operate a collaboration model for influenza and Ebola vaccine projects, with SK Bioscience producing drug substances and IDT Biologika handling fill-finish. "SK carries out various vaccine projects with international organizations such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), so IDT is also participating as a production partner," he said. "As the company's scale and credibility have grown since joining SK Bioscience, participating in projects has become much easier."
The company has currently set a target of achieving 500 million euros in revenue by 2028. It is reviewing an expansion of its production facilities because it has determined that the target cannot be met with its current facilities alone. "Since it takes about three years just to build a plant, moving after demand arises is too late," he said. "A service company must prepare production capacity ahead of the market."
The growth strategy focuses on expanding clinical-trial drug production and development services in the short term, while securing commercial production volumes over the long term. The plan is to strengthen end-to-end services that provide everything from active pharmaceutical ingredients to fill-finish production for various modalities, including vaccines, antibodies and gene therapies, and to cultivate this as a mid- to long-term growth driver.
"Germany's quality systems and more than a century of accumulated production experience are IDT's greatest competitive strengths," Pollano said. "We will leap forward to become the most trusted CDMO partner for mid-sized pharmaceutical companies and biotech firms."
