Merck extends strategic alliance with Samsung BioLogics

Samsung BioLogics CEO Kim Tae-han, left, shakes hands with Udit Batra, CEO at Merck’s Life Science, after signing a memorandum of understanding for a strategic alliance at Merck’s head office in Darmstadt, Germany, Friday (local time). Courtesy of Merck

By Yoon Sung-won

Merck announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Samsung BioLogics for a strategic alliance on biopharmaceutical manufacturing and biologics process development Friday.

The alliance is designed to accelerate process development and clinical material production for small biotech start-ups focusing on novel drug development. Under the agreement, Merck will provide process development and support technical training, in addition to its Mobius single-use technology, to Samsung BioLogics.

“Our collaboration with Samsung continues to strengthen with this agreement,” said Udit Batra, a member of the Merck executive board and CEO at its life science unit. “Merck’s process development expertise and Mobius, the wide single-use bioprocessing portfolio, will allow innovations to reach patients faster.”

Samsung BioLogics CEO Kim Tae-han said, "This alliance will create synergy and maximize our technology potential."

Merck has been the key partner for Samsung BioLogics’ cutting-edge facilities in Korea, and has trained Samsung BioLogics teams on building a robust biologics development process.

The alliance is an extension of a previous MOU signed in 2014 intended to encompass a long-term supply agreement in which Merck provides raw materials for biopharmaceutical manufacturing.

Merck’s portfolio of Mobius single-use technology delivers outstanding flexibility and continuity for scale-up, reducing the need for retraining operators. These are some of the multiple reasons that companies such as Samsung BioLogics have become early adopters of Merck’s technologies.

At Merck’s dedicated collaboration centers, customers work with the company’s scientists and engineers in a shared exploratory environment to solve customers’ toughest bio-manufacturing challenges and help accelerate development of new therapies. Merck has nine collaboration centers around the world, including one in the United States and one in Korea.

Merck is a premier supplier of process development and clinical-stage manufacturing systems, materials and services needed to produce biopharmaceutical drugs. The company is committed to delivering superior bioreactor technology to manufacturers, several of which are already collaborating with the company in that space in North America, Europe and Asia.

In the growing biopharmaceutical market, manufacturers are moving toward end-to-end production, from process development and scale-up through to manufacturing for pre-clinical, clinical and commercial supply, as they seek to cut costs while increasing quality and efficiency.

At the same time, single-use, disposable equipment and systems have increased in popularity because they offer many advantages over conventional stainless steel systems, such as improved batch success rates, less cross-contamination risk, decreased water and waste-water requirements, shortened project duration and reduced project costs.

Samsung BioLogics is a global full-service provider of contract process development and is a biosimilar manufacturer. Its one-stop services include cell line generation, process and analytical method development and analytical services.

Samsung Group, Korea’s largest conglomerate, nurtures the affiliate as its future revenue generator.

Founded in 1668, Merck is the world’s oldest pharmaceutical and chemical company. It played a big role in developing such advanced materials as smartphones and liquid crystal display televisions. In 2016, the German giant had operations in 66 countries.