K-Bio Companies Vie for Contracts at CPHI Milan, Spotlighting CDMO and Drug Development Platforms

As CPHI 2026, the world’s largest pharmaceutical and biotech trade show, takes place in Milan, Italy, major South Korean pharmaceutical and biotech companies are competing for global contracts, highlighting their CDMO capabilities and drug development platforms.

CPHI 2026 will be held in Milan for three days, from the 6th to the 8th. Now in its 37th year, the event is expected to draw more than 2,400 companies from about 170 countries and more than 60,000 industry professionals.

Samsung Biologics will open a large booth and spotlight its contract manufacturing (CMO) capabilities, global production sites and next-generation multimodality technologies. The company will emphasize its end-to-end services, which provide one-stop support from cell line development through drug substance production and finished-dose filling (DP), as it seeks new projects at its European sites.

Celltrion will operate a solo booth for the fifth consecutive year, a practice it began in 2022. Its approximately 46-pyeong exhibition space will include dedicated meeting rooms and a lounge. The company will share progress on its next-generation pipeline in oncology, obesity, metabolic diseases and autoimmune diseases, and seek co-development and licensing partners.

Lotte Biologics will highlight the strengths of its dual-site network linking the United States and South Korea. Ahead of its Songdo campus in Incheon entering good manufacturing practice (GMP) operations, the company will present its integrated production network, comprising the 120,000-liter Songdo campus and the 40,000-liter Syracuse campus in the United States, as well as its bispecific antibody platform.

Kolon Life Science will showcase phosphoramidite products, key raw materials for synthesizing ribonucleic acid (RNA) therapeutics. The company will highlight its ability to provide not only basic structures but also modified phosphoramidites and customized process solutions, and will promote its integrated, end-to-end CDMO portfolio.

Dongkook Pharmaceutical will open a solo booth for the fifth consecutive year to promote its long-acting drug delivery platform, DK-LADs. The company will also present clinical data for the 3-month formulation of Lorelin Depot Injection 11.25 mg, a prostate cancer treatment that completed Phase 3 trials using the technology.

The participation is expected to help South Korean companies solidify their strategic position amid a restructuring of global supply chains. As a focus on biosecurity and supply chain diversification grows, particularly in the United States and Europe, South Korean CDMO companies with reliable large-scale manufacturing capabilities are emerging as key alternatives.

However, challenges remain, including securing early utilization of large-scale expansion facilities and shortening the lead time to contract signing. Passing increasingly stringent global regulatory reviews and maintaining cost competitiveness are also considered key factors.

Industry observers expect tangible contract wins and licensing-out results for South Korean biotech companies to emerge through global events running throughout October, including BioJapan and World ADC, following CPHI 2026.