[JPM 2026] Samsung Biologics to launch new CDO services

Korean CDMO giant underlines importance of contract development organization for growth

Lee Sang-myung, head of Samsung Biologics' business strategy, speaks in a press conference on the sidelines of the 44th JPMorgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco on Thursday. (Samsung Biologics)

SAN FRANCISCO — Samsung Biologics has unveiled new contract development organization services as the Korean biopharmaceutical giant aims to improve customer satisfaction.

The company said Thursday that it planned to launch master cell bank and vector construction services as well as a transposase-related platform in the first quarter of this year.

“The two new services can reduce time quite a lot,” said Lee Sang-myung, head of business strategy in charge of CDO development, in a press conference held on the sidelines of the 44th JPMorgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco.

“As our clients felt unease about protecting their (intellectual property), internalizing these services also removes the risk of IP leakage.”

A master cell bank, a large, cryopreserved collection of cells from a single clone, plays a foundational role in producing biologics, cell therapies and vaccines to ensure product consistency, safety and long-term supply.

The vector construction service will design and build customized molecular-level carriers that can deliver therapeutic proteins, vaccines and DNA treatments.

Transposase is an enzyme that can bind to the end of DNA sequences called transposons and catalyze their movement to another part of the genome.

“The meaning of our CDO business is the preliminary focus on advancing technology,” said Lee. “From the perspective of drugmakers, early stages are very important as they consider how their new products be launched in to the market and it goes beyond the steps of CDO.”

He emphasized that Samsung Biologics’ CDO business will work closely with its contract research organization, or CRO, part to begin collaborating with clients from the discovery stage to complete the development of a new drug. This will allow a speedier transition to commercial production based on its contract manufacturing organization capabilities.

“The size and the profitability of the CDO business are not that big,” said Lee. “But for our CMO business and our clients, whose survival is directly connected to successfully developing and launching a new drug, it’s a key part so we put heavy weight on it and invest a lot in it.”

According to Samsung Biologics, it has shortened the time it takes for developing a cell line and applying for an investigational new drug approval for a monoclonal antibody to nine months, two months faster than the industry average.

For bispecific antibodies, it cut down the time to 11 months, also two months faster than the industry average.

Samsung Biologics’ CDO business has globalized the portfolio of its customers as it continues to broaden its reach beyond borders. According to the company, about 75 percent of the clients were Korean companies when it had secured 45 CDO projects between its launch in 2018 and 2020.

Fast forward to January 2026, about 50 percent of the clients were overseas-headquartered firms as the number of accumulated projects hit 164.

According to market analysis Evaluate Pharma, the global biopharmaceutical market is expected to reach $921 billion in 2030 with a compound annual growth rate of 10 percent.