'Samsung Biologics Surpasses 2 Trillion Won in Orders for the First Half-Year'

Novartis and 400 Billion KRW Contract Increase
Annual Orders Set New Record High

Top-Tier Quality, No FDA Citations

Samsung Biologics has succeeded in accumulating annual orders exceeding 2 trillion won. For the first time since its establishment, it achieved annual orders of 2 trillion won, and with only about half a year having passed this year, continuous record-breaking is expected.

John Rim, CEO of Samsung Biologics, is speaking at a press conference held last month in Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
[Photo by Lee Chun-hee]

Samsung Biologics announced on the 10th that it increased the contract with Novartis, originally signed in June for $81 million (approximately 100.5 billion won), by $309.93 million (approximately 405.2 billion won), raising the total contract value to $471.93 million (approximately 511.1 billion won). Earlier, on the 4th, it reported orders totaling $897.14 million (approximately 1.177 trillion won) from one new contract and one increased contract with Pfizer Ireland, and within about a week, it succeeded in securing another large-scale order.

Last month, during the BIO International Convention (BIO USA), Samsung Biologics surpassed cumulative orders of $10 billion (approximately 13 trillion won) since its founding, and recently, it has continued to secure large-scale contracts, showing even stronger momentum in order growth. Including this contract, the cumulative order amount reaches $1.799 billion (approximately 2.2338 trillion won). Despite only half a year having passed this year, it has already surpassed the previous annual highest order record of $1.655 billion (approximately 1.9374 trillion won) set in 2020. The biosimilar market is continuously and rapidly growing, and Samsung Biologics has ridden this trend by possessing industry-leading production capabilities.

On the client side, Samsung Biologics continues to secure customers among the global top 20 pharmaceutical companies, which was set as an annual goal this year. In 2018, Samsung Biologics had only three customers among the top 20 global pharmaceutical companies, but with the addition of one more company recently (contract counterpart undisclosed), it has succeeded in securing a total of 13 customers, including Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Janssen, Eli Lilly, Merck (MSD), Roche, and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK).

Broad Expansion Since John Rim’s Appointment... Production Capacity and Quality as Dual Wings

Industry insiders evaluate that Samsung Biologics’ aggressive pursuit of global big pharma clients has intensified since CEO John Rim took office. Leveraging Rim’s solid global network built over 30 years working at big pharma companies such as Roche, Genentech, and Astellas, the company actively responds to customer demands. Especially this year, Rim has personally taken on the role of global sales head, directly engaging with clients on the global sales front and leading the order acquisition efforts.

James Choi, Vice President and Head of Sales Support Center at Samsung Biologics, is explaining the plan to establish the 2nd Bio Campus at the Samsung Biologics booth set up at the BIO International Convention (BIO USA) held last month in Boston, USA.
[Photo by Lee Chunhee]

The 'Plant 5 effect' also supports these order efforts. Samsung Biologics recently began full operation of Plant 4 and has started construction of Plant 5 with a production capacity of 180,000 liters. Notably, the planned operation date for Plant 5, originally September 30, 2025, has been advanced by about six months to April 1, as part of a 'speed race' strategy to actively respond to rapidly increasing demand. Currently, with a capacity of 604,000 liters, Samsung Biologics surpasses competitors like Lonza and Boehringer Ingelheim, but it plans to complete Plants 5 through 8, each with the same capacity, by 2032, adding a total of 720,000 liters of production capacity, thereby achieving a total production capacity of 1,324,000 liters.

Additionally, Samsung Biologics is recognized for its overwhelming superiority in quality competition. Recently, cases of receiving Complete Response Letters (CRLs) from regulatory agencies due to manufacturing plant issues during antibody drug approval processes have surged. In particular, Alvotech’s biosimilar 'AVT-02,' which aimed to enter the 'Humira' biosimilar competition starting this month, has yet to receive approval due to defects at its production facility in Iceland. In contrast, Samsung Biologics has never encountered such issues. Woo Joo Kim, a researcher at Korea Investment & Securities, stated, "Since its establishment, Samsung Biologics has obtained product approvals without a single FDA inspection remark," and added, "This clean track record will ultimately play a decisive role in securing orders from global big pharma and biotech CDMOs."