Song Yun-jeong, CEO of Matica Biotechnology, speaks during a press conference held at CHA Bio Group's headquarters in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, Thursday. Courtesy of CHA Bio Group

By Baek Byung-yeul

Matica Biotechnology, a U.S. subsidiary of CHA Biotech, revealed its goal to join the global top five manufacturers of cell and gene therapy and generate sales of over 1 trillion won ($762.8 million) by 2030, its CEO said Thursday.

"The global cell and gene therapy's CDMO (contract development and manufacturing organization) market is expected to grow by more than 20 percent every year and to grow to 25 trillion won by 2030," Song Yun-jeong, the CEO of Matica Biotechnology, said during a press conference at CHA Bio Group's headquarters in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province.

"We will achieve annual 1 trillion won in sales by 2030 to grow into the world's fifth-largest cell and gene therapy CDMO company," she said.

Established in 2019, Matica Biotechnology is based in the U.S. state of Texas, which has universities with excellent bio-related experts and is traditionally known for producing biopharmaceuticals. In May, the company opened its cell and therapy manufacturing facility in College Station, Texas.

The company has been cooperating with Texas A&M University on the development of related technologies and conducting joint research activities to develop the process technology of viral vectors, a raw material needed for gene therapy and vaccine development, with German pharmaceutical and laboratory equipment giant Sartorius.

"Since the completion of the CDMO facility in May, we have signed a CDMO contract with cell and gene therapy companies in the U.S. Currently, we are negotiation with over 50 companies," the CEO said.

"If Matica Biotechnology combines advanced technology we have accumulated in the U.S. with CHA Biotech's over 20-year-long know-how in developing cell therapy, I am sure we can achieve those goals sufficiently."

Song also said that the company's capability in the cell and gene therapy CDMO business will grow faster once its Cell Gene Biobank (CGB) facility is completed in 2024. The CGB facility, which is currently under construction in Seongnam's high-tech Pangyo region, will have a total floor area of 66,115 square meters and will serve as its global production hub for cell and gene therapy products.

"Using technologies and systems we accumulated in the U.S., we plan to have a mass production system in Korea. In terms of size, the GBC is 10 times larger than the U.S. facility," she said.

CHA Biotech CEO Oh Sang-hoon said the company decided to focus on the cell and gene therapy manufacturing business because "CHA Biotech has dealt with cells for over 20 years, and we are confident that our know-how accumulated in the cell therapy sector can be utilized in the cell and gene therapy CDMO business, which is considered a promising future business."