OREANDA-NEWS. Ajinomoto Co., Inc. announced that Ajinomoto Genexine Co., Ltd., its joint venture with Genexine Co., Ltd. of South Korea, will invest approximately KRW 35.0 billion to construct a new plant in the Incheon Free Economic Zone(IFEZ) in South Korea for cell culture media for biopharmaceutical production. The new plant is scheduled to begin full-scale operation in July 2014.

Sophisticated technology is required because the quality of the cell culture media has an impact on the productivity and quality of biopharmaceuticals. Ajinomoto Genexine will supply cell culture media that meet the high level of quality required by introducing Ajinomoto Group technologies and state-of-the-art equipment and establishing a cGMP complied quality control and quality assurance system at the plant.

In line with the growth of the biopharmaceutical market, demand for cell culture media used in the production of biopharmaceuticals is also expanding. The size of the world market for cell culture media is estimated to be JPY 100 billion, and demand is expected to grow rapidly in Asia. By establishing a new plant for cell culture media in South Korea, a major market for these products, Ajinomoto Genexine will be the first company in South Korea to manufacture custom cell culture media and offer fast service at customer sites. In addition, Ajinomoto Genexine will supply products globally in cooperation with other Ajinomoto Group companies that are global suppliers of amino acids, a key component of cell culture media.