SK Biotek, the first Korean pharma company to invest in Ireland, began operation of its plant under its new name in Swords, Ireland, on Thursday, opening the way for the Korean conglomerate’s foray into Europe’s pharmaceuticals industry.

The opening event was attended by SK Biotek CEO Park Jun-ku, Minister of State at the Department of Finance of Ireland Michael D’Arcy and Korean Ambassador to Ireland Hu Kang-il.

The Swords plant is a manufacturing facility acquired by SK last June from Bristol-Myers Squibb, marking a rare case of a successful cross-border deal between a Korean pharmaceuticals firm and a global company, as part of SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won’s drive to go more global, the company explained.

The plant with a production scale of some 81,000 liters manufactures active pharmaceutical ingredients used in anti-cancer drugs, anti-viral, diabetes treatment and others with over 50 years of experience.

Effective with the official launch of the plant under SK name, some 360 employees had their employment transferred from BMS to SK Biotek, while the products will also bear the SK name.

SK Biotek is planning to use the Swords plant not only as its major manufacturing source, but also the base point for its marketing and sales in Europe.

“By sharing the technology and experiences with Ireland’s Swords plant, we will maximize the synergy effect and reinforce marketing in order to grow into a global contract development and manufacturing organization with at least 4 trillion won ($3.75 billion) worth of corporate value by 2020,” CEO Park said. (khnews@heraldcorp.com)