On the 3rd, the contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) and new drug development specialist ENCell announced that it signed a CDMO contract worth approximately 5.7 billion won with the Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology (KRIBB).
The scale of this contract is nearly 80% of the company’s revenue (7.2 billion won) from last year, marking it as the largest single contract to date. The contract period extends until May 31, 2029.
Through this contract, ENCell will embark on establishing a clinical production platform for the development and production of customized adeno-associated virus (Adeno-Associated Virus, AAV) gene therapies in collaboration with the Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology (KRIBB). AAV is widely utilized in the development of in vivo gene therapies due to its low immunogenicity and safety, as it does not integrate into the patient’s genome.
The Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology (KRIBB) plans to lay the groundwork for the commercialization of AAV therapies based on domestic source technologies in collaboration with ENCell. It views customized AAV gene therapies as a potential next-generation source of food for the country and aims to proactively secure development capabilities to keep pace with the global gene therapy development competition.
ENCell plans to conduct more aggressive marketing for CDMO orders in the AAV sector in light of this contract.
ENCell CEO Jang Jong-wook noted, "ENCell is the number one corporation in the domestic cell and gene therapy (Cell and Gene Therapy, CGT) CDMO sector in terms of revenue and market share, and we successfully secured this contract based on our distinguished track record," adding, "We will combine our strengths with the Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology (KRIBB) to produce world-class results based on our excellent technological capabilities."
ENCell possesses a global-level Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) facility capable of simultaneously producing cells and viruses, making it the only company in Korea with such capabilities. Leveraging its infrastructure and technology, it is expanding collaborations with both domestic and international advanced pharmaceutical development corporations, having signed a contract for contract manufacturing (CMO) with a major global pharmaceutical company in December of last year, following agreements with Novartis and Janssen.
According to the Korea Biotechnology Industry Organization, the global gene therapy market is projected to grow from approximately $7.2 billion (about 10 trillion won) in 2023 to around $36.6 billion (about 50 trillion won) over nine years, averaging a growth rate of 19.4% per year.