Beyond biosimilars: Celltrion logs record 180+ meetings at Bio USA with AI, ADC push

Celltrion used the world's largest biotech exhibition — the 2026 BIO International Convention (Bio USA) in San Diego — to formally declare its transformation into a next-generation drug development company, securing a wave of global partnering opportunities and showcasing innovative technology combining AI and antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs).

The company said Friday it conducted more than 180 business meetings with global pharmaceutical companies and biotech firms over the four-day event, which ran from June 22 through June 25 (local time). That is the highest number of meetings Celltrion has recorded at a single Bio USA since it first participated in 2010, marking its 17th consecutive year at the convention.

Cumulative booth visitors also surpassed 2,000, setting an all-time record. The sharp rise in both metrics reflects how Celltrion's proven large-scale production capabilities and next-generation modality strategy aligned closely with the interests of global big pharma players amid a broader realignment of global supply chains.

The central theme of Celltrion's booth this year was AI-driven drug development. The company displayed the slogan "From Lab to Life, Together We Go Further" across the front of its booth exterior, highlighting 11 globally approved products and a manufacturing success rate of 99%, while foregrounding its next-generation growth engines. The company prominently noted that research and development personnel account for 33 percent of its total workforce, making the case to global visitors that it is a partner with genuine innovation research capabilities — not merely a contract manufacturer.

Staff from Celltrion's ADC and multispecific antibody (MsAb) new drug divisions were deployed on the floor to actively explore co-development and technology collaboration opportunities with global partners. The company unveiled an advanced pipeline that included a "biobetter ADC" designed to maximize tumor-targeting capability, a "bispecific ADC" that simultaneously targets two antigens to neutralize cancer cells, and a "dual-payload ADC" that loads two different drugs onto a single antibody to significantly enhance therapeutic efficacy. In the multispecific antibody space, Celltrion drew strong interest from global buyers with technologies covering immune redirection via T-cell engagement, multi-pathway immune activation, and immune modulation through multi-mechanism design.

Global buyers focused particular attention on Celltrion's AI capabilities. The company unveiled four proprietary AI-driven technologies: AI-based new target discovery and portfolio expansion, next-generation multispecific antibody design, in silico-based developability assessment, and a data-driven research platform called Healthcare Intelligence Bank. These disclosures prompted a string of partnering proposals from big pharma. An in silico model that uses AI to pre-assess cell line developability from the candidate optimization stage — dramatically shortening the time to commercial production — drew concentrated interest from buyers seeking high operational efficiency.

Beyond business meetings, Celltrion's on-site marketing also became one of the convention's talking points. A customizable keycap giveaway — offered to visitors who completed a survey on the company's future growth vision — drew such overwhelming crowds that the first day's supply ran out almost immediately. Representatives from rival booths and groups from global investment firms made their way to Celltrion's booth to receive the keycaps, which featured the company's logo and signature green color scheme, helping to significantly boost brand recognition.

Celltrion also held in-depth discussions at the event on diversifying its global supply chain for raw and subsidiary materials. The company held a series of on-site meetings with newly identified suppliers whose competitiveness had been verified, exploring cooperation on production efficiency and technology enhancement. Celltrion said it plans to continue working-level consultations with these firms after the convention to deepen mutual cooperation — a move aimed at proactively managing supply chain risk that could arise during large-scale new drug production and at maximizing cost competitiveness.

"This year's Bio USA was a venue where we reaffirmed our leadership in biosimilars while also feeling firsthand the intense global interest in our next-generation growth engines — including ADCs, multispecific antibodies and AI-based technologies," a Celltrion official said. "We plan to further develop the global partnering opportunities identified at this event, and we will do our utmost to ensure that the next-generation growth drivers that drew such strong interest from industry players and investor groups translate into tangible business results and an expanded global footprint."