Samsung Biologics banks on antibody drugs as fifth factory progresses

With the 1.98 trillion won ($1.47 billion), 180,000-liter (163,000-quart) Plant 5 slated to begin operation in April 2025, Samsung Biologics is set to secure a contract manufacturing capacity of 784,000 liters a year.

The construction site of Samsung Biologics’ Plant 5 in Songdo, Incheon [SAMSUNG BIOLOGICS]

INCHEON — In Incheon, the world’s largest bio-manufacturing city in terms of production capacity, Samsung Biologics’ fifth factory is rapidly rising from the ground.

With the 1.98 trillion won ($1.47 billion), 180,000-liter (163,000-quart) Plant 5 slated to begin operation in April 2025, Samsung Biologics is set to secure a contract manufacturing capacity of 784,000 liters a year.

And there are still three more to come by 2032.

Samsung Biologics CEO John Rim speaks during a press event held on Tuesday at Samsung Biologics’ headquarters in Incheon. [SAMSUNG BIOLOGICS]

The world’s largest contract manufacturing organization (CMO) expects its substantial capacity expansion will align with the growing demand.

“At this point, we believe that our capacity expansion is in line with the continuously growing demand for antibody drugs, which is outpacing the demand growth in other pharmaceutical businesses in general,” Lo Kun, executive vice president and head of Samsung Biologics’ EPCV Center, told the press at Samsung Biologics’ headquarters in Incheon on Tuesday.

The goal is to maintain at least its current 30 percent share of contract manufacturing orders worldwide, according to Lo.

In regards to the concerns about the possibility of oversupply, Samsung “expects the market to grow at the pace that we have predicted ahead,” said the executive vice president.

Lo Kun, executive vice president and head of Samsung Biologics’ EPCV Center, speaks during a press event held on Tuesday at Samsung Biologics’ headquarters in Incheon. [SAMSUNG BIOLOGICS]

In March, Samsung Biologics broke ground at the 96,000-square-meter (1,033,000-square-feet) site in Songdo, Incheon, for Plant 5 in March, housing 12 bioreactors with a combined production capacity of 180,000 liters.

While the initial plan was to begin the operation by September 2025, it has been accelerated by five months. The construction so far is 30 percent complete.

The construction is estimated to take 24 months, which is approximately a year less than the 35 months took for Samsung to build the 180,000-liter third plant.

Samsung Biologics attributes the expedited construction to its prior experience in building four plants in Bio Campus I.

The company implemented what it calls the “cookie-cutter” approach in building the fifth plant, a procedure to construct uniform buildings with the same design and therefore ramp up efficiency.

“With our previous production plants, from Plant 1 to Plant 4, the production facilities are scattered across some four floors or so, which resulted in higher buildings,” said Lo.

A CMO plant requires highly advanced technologies for design, Samsung Biologics said.

Inside Samsung’s second production plant, 12 units of 15,000-liter bioreactors were lined up on the ground floor, connected with smaller reactors on the upper floors. Every pipe connecting the reactors, which drug substances flow through, is slightly tilted in order to prevent the liquid from stagnating and causing possible contamination.

“The plant here may look a lot like a chemical product factory, but the design and construction of biopharmaceutical plants are considered about seven to eight times more complex than the chemical ones,” said Hwang Dong-gu, a senior specialist at Samsung Biologics’ communication team.

The upcoming Plant 5 is the first component for Samsung’s Bio Campus II, consisting of four 180,000-liter plants.

Samsung plans to invest a combined 7.5 trillion won through 2032 to build Plant 5, 6, 7 and 8, all with a capacity of 180,000 liters each.

With the addition of the Bio Campus II, Samsung Biologics’ entire production capacity will reach 1,324,000 million liters.

The company has recently raised its revenue forecast for this year to 3.6 trillion won, up from the previous 3.53 trillion won for an on-year increase of more than 20 percent, thanks to a streak of new contract manufacturing deals signed with global big pharma.

BY SHIN HA-NEE [shin.hanee@joongang.co.kr]