Cytiva strengthens APAC presence with Korea plant

Danaher’s biotechnology supply company Cytiva has opened its first 6,100 square-meter plant in Incheon, South Korea. The plant, strategically located in Songdo Bio-cluster, includes a manufacturing facility and a customer experience center.   

Expected to be fully operational in 2026, the facility will create 150 local jobs and focus on manufacturing sterile-filtration products. The bioprocess vendor has shared plans to expand this facility into virus filtration equipment later. The financials of this expansion were not disclosed. 

“At Cytiva, we are always looking to safely improve our manufacturing operations and are using the Danaher’s business system to help us identify where we can improve,” a spokesperson for the firm told BioProcess Insider. “The increasing number of new therapies is driving demand for advanced products, equipment, and materials for biopharmaceutical manufacturing in Korea.”  

“Cytiva’s expansion in Korea will bring us closer to our regional customers,” the spokesperson added. “As demand from leading customers in Korea continues to grow each year, this expansion has positioned us to better meet their needs.” 

According to Invest Korea, Songdo, located in Incheon Free Economic Zone (IFEZ), is a designated bio-cluster with an annual bio-medicine production capacity of 560,000 L, which is the world’s largest followed by San Francisco and Singapore.  

The region is a hub for major players in the biopharma and bioprocessing industry. It is home to Korean pharma giants like Samsung Biologics, Celltrion, Lotte Biologics, and SK Bioscience, alongside global leaders such as Janssen Pharmaceutical Company (J&J’s innovative medicines division), Ajinomoto, Charles River Laboratories, and MilliporeSigma (Merck KGaA’s life sciences division). Additionally, the area hosts fellow bioprocess vendors, including Sartorius and Thermo Fisher Scientific. 

“Korea is an ideal location for our innovation hub,” the spokesperson said. “The Korean government is committed to supporting the biotechnology industry because it is a key growth engine for the economy. The IFEZ provides a business-friendly environment with streamlined administrative procedures and regulatory support to facilitate business operations and investment processes.”  

“We chose Songdo specifically due to its reputation as a global bio hub, advanced infrastructure, supportive regulatory environment, excellent connectivity, along with a collaborative atmosphere driven by academia, industry leaders, and government initiatives.” 

Building its presence in the Korean market the Massachusetts-based firm signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Seoul National University (SNU) in April 2021. As per the agreement, Cytiva installed six pieces of equipment for a lab at the College of Natural Sciences, open to students, researchers and biotech companies for training and seminars. 

This was followed by the firm investing $52.5 million in a vaccine production facility, as reported by The Korea Herald. The firm produced disposable cell culture fluid to meet the then surging demands for COVID-19 vaccines.