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| Samsung Biologics' Plant 4 in Songdo, Incheon / Courtesy of Samsung Biologics |
By Baek Byung-yeul
Samsung Biologics signed a $242 million contract manufacturing organization (CMO) deal with global pharmaceutical giant Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) for the production of immuno-oncology drugs, the drug manufacturer said Monday.
Samsung said the production agreement was made with BMS' subsidiary Swords Laboratories. Under the contract, its Plant 4 will serve as the production base for BMS' flagship immuno-oncology product for the next seven years through 2030.
BMS was Samsung Biologics' first customer since the company launched its CMO business, which refers to the production of medical drugs at the request of a client company. The two sides have been working together for more than a decade, signing new and expanded CMO contracts.
Samsung Biologics attributed the long-term collaboration to the fact that it has the world's largest production capacity and has earned customers' trust with its fast and stable production speed.
Based on this competitiveness, Samsung has continued to establish new contracts and expand existing ones with BMS and other major global pharmaceutical companies. So far, it has secured 14 of the top 20 global pharmaceutical companies as customers.
The company's Plant 4, which began full operation in June, has an annual production capacity of 240,000 liters. Thanks to the capacity, Samsung said it is increasingly receiving large-scale orders from global pharmaceutical companies.
With its contract with BMS, Samsung Biologics has made 2.7 trillion won ($2 billion) worth of contracts this year, following major contract orders from Pfizer and Novartis. At the current pace, the company added it is expected to reach a total contract value of 3 trillion won this year, the highest ever.
"The series of large-scale contracts has helped us dispel the overcapacity concerns from the market as the company has received a series of large-scale long-term contracts from top global pharmaceutical companies shortly after the launch of Plant 4," a company spokesperson said.
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