As pharmaceutical companies place growing emphasis on domestic production, regulatory certainty and supply-chain resilience, competition among contract drug manufacturers in the United States is increasingly being shaped by operational credibility rather than sheer capacity. For CDMOs seeking to win business from global drugmakers, the ability to operate smoothly under U.S. regulatory scrutiny has become a decisive differentiator.
That shift is drawing new international players deeper into the U.S. market. Lotte Biologics, a South Korea–based contract development and manufacturing organization, has begun expanding its U.S. workforce as it works to anchor its global strategy in American operations. Recent job postings indicate the company is recruiting experienced technical staff for its Syracuse Bio Campus in New York, signaling a push to strengthen on-site execution and quality systems rather than relying solely on overseas scale.
The roles focus on facilities and engineering oversight, including equipment maintenance, utilities management and coordination of shift workers and contractors to reduce downtime. The emphasis on candidates with hands-on experience navigating U.S. regulatory requirements reflects how seriously CDMOs are now judged on their ability to meet standards set by agencies such as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, as well as global good manufacturing practice rules.
Lotte Biologics entered the CDMO business in 2022 after acquiring the Syracuse site, using the facility to establish a regulatory track record in the United States. The company has said the campus secured three CDMO contracts last year and one more this year, a modest but notable start in a market where customers tend to favor suppliers with proven operating histories. Industry executives say that even incremental contract wins can carry outsized importance for newer entrants, as each project adds to compliance experience that is difficult to replicate quickly.
The company’s hiring move comes as U.S.-based drugmakers reassess how and where their medicines are produced. Policy momentum favoring domestic manufacturing, combined with heightened sensitivity to supply disruptions, has led many pharmaceutical companies to prioritize partners with established U.S. operations and locally embedded teams. In that environment, staffing a plant with experienced local personnel is often seen as a prerequisite for building customer confidence.
Analysts note that for CDMOs, the competitive gap is increasingly defined by operational discipline rather than headline investment announcements. For a latecomer like Lotte Biologics, direct recruitment of seasoned U.S. professionals is viewed as one of the fastest ways to narrow the trust gap with established rivals.
The U.S. site also serves a broader strategic purpose. Lotte Biologics plans to link clinical-scale and early-stage production in Syracuse with large-scale commercial manufacturing at its Songdo Bio Campus in Incheon, scheduled to begin operations next year. Projects initiated under U.S. regulatory oversight would transition to higher-volume production in South Korea, creating a transpacific manufacturing pipeline designed to appeal to global customers.
Under Chief Executive Shinyou Yul, who also serves as a vice chairman of Lotte Holdings, the company has framed its U.S. operation as more than a standalone plant. Executives describe the Syracuse campus as a gateway for establishing credibility in the global CDMO market, with local hiring playing a central role in demonstrating that a Korean manufacturer can operate seamlessly within the U.S. pharmaceutical system.
