Profit-turning Samsung BioLogics wins $105m contract extension
For the full year 2017, contract development and manufacturing organisation (CDMO) Samsung BioLogics made 459.8bn won ($423m) in sales, up 56% on the previous year.
Furthermore, after successive years of making a loss, the firm reported an operating profit of 63bn won ($58m).
The Korean CDMO attributed these results to increased productivity at its site in Songdo, Incheon.
The site is formed of a 30,000L stainless steel mammalian cell culture plant and a second facility commissioned in 2013 which recently came online housing 150,000L made up of ten stainless steel vessels, plus 2,000L of hybrid capacity.
Construction of a third 180,000L facility, expected to come online at the end of this year, was completed in December and Samsung BioLogics said it expects the costs of preparing for operations will be reflected in this 2018’s results
The firm also said 2018’s results will include a $105m boost from a manufacturing contract signed with an undisclosed Asian pharmaceutical company.
The contract is an additional deal for an existing manufacturing contract, though Samsung BioLogics would not reveal details related to the client’s name, nor the product.
Samsung BioLogics has a number of major biopharma clients on its books, including Bristol-Myers Squibb, and Roche.
Korean biosimilar developer Samsung Bioepis, a joint venture between Samsung BioLogics and Biogen, is also a client. Its biosimilar Benepali (etanercept) was named as a ‘main’ product when Samsung BioLogics launched an IPO in November 2016.
