Samsung Biologics to begin operations of 4th plant this year
Samsung Biologics CEO John Rim speaks during an online conference, Thursday. Courtesy of Samsung BiologicsBy Baek Byung-yeulPartial operations will begin in October of this year at Samsung Biologics' fourth plant currently being built in Songdo, west of Seoul. The move is part of efforts by the drug-manufacturing unit of Samsung Group to improve its capabilities in the contract manufacturing organization (CMO) business, its CEO said Thursday.Samsung Biologics has mainly handled so-called “fill-and-finish” contracts until now, which involve filling vials with drugs and packaging them for distribution. The company is seeking to boost output, while taking on new development projects.“We plan to start the partial operations of the fourth plant in October of this year, which is six months earlier than scheduled. The plant will be able to fully operate starting in the second quarter of next year,” the company's CEO, John Rim, said during an online conference.For the company's new drug-manufacturing facility, the CEO said, “We have already won orders from three
