West Continues to Expand Capabilities in Asia, with Office and Warehouse Facility Expansion in South Korea

As a part of West's ongoing investment in the Asia Pacific region, the company recently relocated to a new office facility in Seoul, South Korea and expanded its warehouse capacity. This strategically positions West in key markets with enhanced scalability to support the future growth needs of its customers.Cindy Reiss-Clark, Chief Commercial Officer and Nilesh Shah, Vice President and General Manager, Emerging Markets joined the Korea team in hosting a group of valued customers at a ribbon cutting event to mark the occasion.

From left to right: Jenny Park, National Sales Manager, Korea; Nilesh Shah, Vice President & General Manager, Emerging Markets; Cindy Reiss-Clark, Chief Commercial Officer; Journey Hong, General Manager, Korea; Kok Li Kwang, Director, Scientific Affairs & Technical Services, Asia Pacific

Cindy Reiss Clark, West’s Chief Commercial Officer said, “I was excited to celebrate the opening of West’s new office space and enhanced warehouse facility as it is a symbolic, critical next step to fortify the West brand in this important country. This investment demonstrates our commitment to supporting the growing needs of our customers in South Korea during an especially rapid growth period for the biologics industry. Positioning West as a leader and partner to our South Korea customers has never been more important. On behalf of the Executive Leadership team, we are so grateful to our South Korea team members and the work that went into this expansion.”

Seoul Office

The newly enhanced office space is in the commercial center of Seoul and will enable West to foster deeper collaboration with existing and new customers through a dedicated training area that will host customer training, seminars, and technical exchange sessions on topics such as the evolving regulatory requirements around the world, particularly in the areas of drug safety and packaging.

Hwaseong Warehouse

Strategically located in Hwaseong, West’s new warehouse facility is close to the major local pharmaceutical companies. The warehouse space is 3,442.51m², doubling the previous storage, enhances West's inventory management capability to meet the growing supply needs of the region in support of South Korea's ambition to become a key player in the global biologics market. This strategic move comes at a time when South Korea is emerging as a global biologic’s hub, with the government committed to quintupling the country’s biotechnology industrial output by 2035.¹

This expansion comes nearly one year after West announced its upgraded manufacturing facility in Jurong, Singapore. The upgrades in Jurong provided new capabilities to manufacture a comprehensive range of advanced containment products to meet the evolving needs of sensitive and complex molecules.

Journey Hong, General Manager of West in Korea, said, “Fueled by our rapid growth in South Korea, we are thrilled to be relocating to this new office facility and expanding our warehouse capability. It reflects the strength of our products, our unparalleled expertise, and our significant growth potential. The expanded space, improved location, and just-in-time supply capabilities will ensure West is best positioned to continue delivering high-quality and innovative packaging solutions for injectable drugs to support our customers’ growth and the promising biologics sector in Korea.”

Nilesh Shah, Vice President and General Manager, Emerging Markets, commented, “Our vision for the APAC market is to continue to develop innovative drug delivery solutions that help make injectable medicines safe, enable greater patient adherence, and to improve the patient experience. West has played an essential role in the healthcare market for over 100 years, and by combining this recent expansion in South Korea with our high value product manufacturing capabilities in Singapore, West is well positioned to be a partner of choice in responding to the critical changes in healthcare and drug delivery in Asia.”

West has a presence in South Korea since 2019, following the acquisition of GIS Korea. West has more than tripled business growth in Korea since 2019, and continues to grow its presence in the country and fuels the region’s growth. To learn more about our locations across the globe, click here.

¹https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20240326007200315