Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong (2nd from L) attends the opening ceremony of the fourth plant of Samsung Biologics Co., the biotech arm of South Korea’s Samsung Group, in Incheon, 27 kilometers west of Seoul, on Oct. 11, 2022, in this photo provided by the company.
SEOUL, Oct. 11 (Korea Bizwire) — Samsung Group’s de facto leader Lee Jae-yong on Tuesday attended the opening ceremony of the fourth plant of Samsung Biologics Co., the biotech arm of South Korea’s Samsung Group, in a sign of the group’s dedication to nurture biopharmaceuticals as one of its next growth drivers.
The plant, which stands on a 23.8-million-square-meter plot of land in Incheon, 27 kilometers south of Seoul, started partial operations earlier this month.
Samsung Biologics broke ground on the plant in late 2020, as part of its long-term plan to boost its operational efficiency and scale up its development and manufacturing capabilities to meet growing biomanufacturing demands.
Samsung Biologics spent more than 2 trillion won (US$1.39 billion) on building the fourth plant, an amount more than the total spending for its three previous plants.
With the completion of the fourth plant, Samsung Biologics boasts the world’s largest manufacturing facility at a single location, according to the company.
Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong (2nd from L) takes a tour of the fourth plant of Samsung Biologics Co., the biotech arm of South Korea’s Samsung Group, in Incheon, 27 kilometers west of Seoul, on Oct. 11, 2022, in this photo provided by the company.
After attending the ceremony and taking a tour of the plant, Lee, vice chairman at Samsung Electronics, met with senior executives at Samsung Biologics to discuss a long-term strategy to enhance the company’s competitiveness as a contract development and manufacturing company and a producer of biosimilars.
Lee has stressed the importance of and potential for the bio industry.
“Samsung sees a great potential in combining information technology, medical and bio science,” he said at the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference in 2015.
“Such innovations will enable more people to use better medical services at less cost,” he said.
In 2010, Samsung announced the biopharmaceutical industry as one of five new areas that would lead the group’s future growth. It has heavily invested in the sector since then.
Samsung Biologics, now the fourth-largest South Korean company by market capitalization, said it plans to invest 7.5 trillion won more by 2032 to build a second bio complex in Incheon, where it will add four more plants and set up an “innovation center” to support local bio startups.
(Yonhap)
