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Samsung to build world’s largest biopharmaceutical plant

December 22, 2015
President Park Geun-hye and Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong participate in the groundbreaking ceremony for Samsung BioLogics' third biopharmaceutical manufacturing plant in Songdo, Incheon, Monday. (Korea Times photo by Hong In-ki)

President Park Geun-hye and Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong participate in the groundbreaking ceremony for Samsung BioLogics’ third biopharmaceutical manufacturing plant in Songdo, Incheon, Monday. (Korea Times photo by Hong In-ki)

By Yoon Sung-won

Samsung BioLogics will invest 850 billion won ($740 million) in establishing the world’s largest biopharmaceutical product manufacturing facility in Songdo, Incheon.

The Samsung Group unit will be the world’s top biopharmaceutical contract manufacturing operator (CMO) once the new plant, the third for the company, becomes operational in 2018.

“We will be the world’s top biopharmaceutical CMO in business scale, sales and operating profit by 2018,” Samsung BioLogics Chief Executive Officer Kim Tae-han said, Monday. “We will also consider building a fourth plant once we successfully complete the building of the third.”

Samsung BioLogics expected its sales to exceed 2 trillion won once the third plant starts operation.

“We will not only boost sales by scale but also become the world’s most profitable,” Kim said. “While global medicine companies are expanding investments in biopharmaceutical product manufacturing plants, Samsung BioLogics has secured price competitiveness through investments. We have reduced the investment costs on production scale by 43 percent compared to our competitors.”

Samsung BioLogics held a groundbreaking ceremony for the third plant at its headquarters in the Incheon Songdo Free Economic Zone, Monday.

President Park Geun-hye, Minister of Science, ICT and Future Planning Choi Yang-hee, Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Yoon Sang-jick, Minister of Health and Welfare Chung Chin-youb and Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong attended the event.

Kim said the investment was decided on to meet the rapid growth of the global biopharmaceutical market.

“We have decided to invest in the third plant to stably supply products to the rapidly growing biopharmaceutical market and to meet the production request of global medicine companies,” he said. “The number of biopharmaceutical items was about 110 last year. But the number has risen to 230 this year and is expected to reach 350 by 2020. Companies will fall short of manufacturing capacity even when they develop biopharmaceutical products.”

The company said the new plant will have about 180,000 liters of annual production capability. Adding to its first plant’s 30,000 liters and the second plant’s 150,000 liters manufacturing capabilities, Samsung BioLogics will be able to produce a total of 360,000 liters of biopharmaceutical products in a year.

This is the world’s greatest biopharmaceutical product manufacturing capability that exceeds those of other global CMOs such as Lonza’s 260,000 liters and Boehringer-Ingelheim with 240,000 liters.

Once completed, the third plant will be validated for operation and start commercial operations by the fourth quarter of 2018, the company said.

Kim also said that Samsung Electronics’ semiconductor manufacturing technologies, which guarantee zero penetration of external air to the facilities, have been applied to Samsung BioLogics’ production plants to enhance product quality.

Samsung has chosen the biological and medicine sectors as its new growth engines and established Samsung BioLogics in April 2011. It has invested over 3 trillion won in the business.

The company has operated on the basis of consignment production from Switzerland’s Roche and the United States’ BMS.