Samsung BioLogics Co., a pharmaceutical arm under South Korea's top conglomerate Samsung Group, said Monday that it will build its third production line in the country by 2017, as part of an effort to focus on securing a new growth engine.

Under the plan, Samsung BioLogics will invest 850 billion won ($721 million) to build the facility in Songdo, west of Seoul, which will make the firm the world's top contract manufacturing organization.

The new facility will boast an annual production capacity of 180,000 liters upon completion, also marking the top size as an individual factory record. The company already operates two factories in Songdo, with annual production capacities of 30,000 liters and 150,000 liters, respectively.

Samsung earlier invested 2.1 trillion won to build the two production lines.

After completion, Samsung BioLogics' annual production capacity will reach 360,000 liters, hovering above other CMO players, including Switzerland-based Lonza Group and Germany-based Boehringer Ingelheim that hold compared figures of 260,000 liters and 240,000 liters, respectively.

Samsung BioLogics currently produces products for world-famous pharmaceutical brands such as U.S.-based Bristol-Myers Squibb and Switzerland-based Roche Holding.

The full-fledged production is anticipated to begin in the fourth quarter of 2018, industry sources said.

Samsung BioLogics said its annual sales and operating profits will reach 2 trillion won and 1 trillion won, respectively, if the third factory commences its operation. The company added that it plans to add more factories down the road.

Samsung BioLogics has come under the spotlight as Samsung C&T Corp., the group's new de facto holding firm launched in September, holds a 51 percent stake in the company. Samsung Electronics also holds a 46.79 percent share in the firm.

Amid the weakening returns from traditional businesses such as smartphones, the Samsung Group has been tapping deeper into the biotechnology segment to diversify its business portfolio.

Samsung BioLogics expects the global CMO market to grow 9.4 percent annually to reach $7.2 billion in 2017, compared to $4.6 billion posted in 2012.

The global market for biopharmaceutical products is currently estimated at $179 billion, also hovering far above the semiconductor industry's $82.5 billion, the company added, implying that the bio sector will become the new main source of profit for the conglomerate in the future.

South Korean President Park Geun-hye and Samsung Group's de facto heir Lee Jae-yong also attended the groundbreaking ceremony. (Yonhap)