Samsung Biologics has succeeded in securing the largest single contract in its history, worth $1.06 billion (approximately 1.4637 trillion KRW).
On the 2nd, Samsung Biologics announced that it had signed a massive contract manufacturing organization (CMO) agreement of this scale with a U.S.-based pharmaceutical company. This contract is the main agreement following the letter of intent (LOI) signed in June last year. The contract amount has increased nearly tenfold from the initial $112.53 million (approximately 147.3 billion KRW). The contract period extends until 2030, but details about the client and product names have been withheld due to confidentiality clauses.
With this contract, Samsung Biologics will achieve an annual order amount of 2.5399 trillion KRW this year. This accounts for 72.5% of last year's total order amount of 3.5009 trillion KRW. Notably, among the seven contracts signed since the first order in March this year, six are described as increased contracts where clients have expanded production volumes based on their trust in Samsung Biologics.
Back in 2018, only three of the top 20 global big pharma companies by market capitalization were clients, but now Samsung Biologics has secured 16 clients including Pfizer, AstraZeneca (AZ), Janssen, Eli Lilly, MSD, Roche, and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK). This growth is attributed to CEO John Rim’s solid global network, built over 30 years working at big pharma companies such as Roche, Genentech, and Astellas, enabling proactive responses to client demands.
Samsung Biologics plans to continue this growth trend based on world-class production capacity. To quickly respond to the increasing demand for biopharmaceuticals, Samsung Biologics is constructing its 5th plant with a capacity of 180,000 liters, scheduled for completion in April next year. Adding this to the current world-class production capacity of 604,000 liters, the total production capacity will reach 784,000 liters, securing a significant production gap. Furthermore, with the planned completion of plants 6 to 8 by 2032, the total production capacity will reach an overwhelming 1,324,000 liters. The company is also reportedly considering the initiation of a third bio campus.
This year, Samsung Biologics is also entering the antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) market, a global trend leading the oncology market. An ADC-dedicated production facility will be completed within the year in Songdo, Incheon. Through the Samsung Life Science Fund, formed together with Samsung C&T and Samsung Bioepis, investments have been made in Swiss company Araris and Korean company AimedBio, providing customers with a 'toolbox' that offers a variety of choices for antibodies, linkers, and cytotoxic drugs.
Not only in production capacity but also in quality, Samsung Biologics has demonstrated outstanding quality competitiveness throughout the entire pharmaceutical manufacturing and management process, recording a cumulative 278 regulatory approvals as of last month and achieving a 99% batch success rate last year, securing numerous successful track records.
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