This undated photo, provided by South Korea’s top pharmaceutical firm Samsung Biologics Co., shows the company’s chief, John Rim.
SONGDO, March 19 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korean pharmaceutical firm Samsung Biologics Co. will accelerate its new drug development to secure future growth engines, its chief said Friday.
Samsung Biologics is a leading contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) specializing in the development and manufacturing of biopharmaceutical products for major pharmaceutical firms from both home and abroad.
“We aim to expand from the current CDMO business to new drug development business such as cell therapy, gene therapy and vaccines,” CEO John Rim said during a shareholders’ meeting.
The chief also said the company’s fourth plant in Songdo, west of Seoul, which is currently under construction, will help the company meet its future business goal.
The 1.7 trillion-won (US$1.4 billion) plant will have a bioreactor capacity of 256,000 liters.
With the fourth plant’s completion, Samsung Biologics will secure a combined bioreactor capacity of 620,000 liters, making it the largest contract manufacturing organization (CMO) facility at a single location in the world.
The pharmaceutical giant’s sales for last year reached 1.16 trillion won to breach annual sales of 1 trillion won for the first time since the company was founded in 2011. The company also signed 20 additional CMO contracts in 2020, bringing the total to 56.
(Yonhap)
