Samsung Group's biotech arm aims for major capacity boost, adding 720,000 liters through its second bio campus by 2032

Samsung Biologics CEO John Rim delivers a speech at the 2025 JP Morgan Healthcare Conference held in San Francisco on Tuesday. (Samsung Biologics)
Samsung Biologics CEO John Rim delivers a speech at the 2025 JP Morgan Healthcare Conference held in San Francisco on Tuesday. (Samsung Biologics)

SAN FRANCISCO-- Samsung Biologics CEO John Rim unveiled the company's strategy to ascend as a top-tier biopharmaceutical company, grounded in its "4E (Excellence)" approach, unveiled at the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference held in San Francisco, on Tuesday.

The 4E framework encompasses the values that Samsung Biologics' employees embody: customer excellence, operational excellence, quality excellence and people excellence.

"Despite the challenging business environment in 2024, our team has maintained steady growth by leveraging the 4E strategy. This year, we plan to continue our growth trajectory through milestones such as the completion of Plant 5 and the launch of antibody-drug conjugate production."

To proactively and more flexibly meet client demands, the CEO announced plans to complete the construction of its second bio campus by 2032, and also revealed that discussions are underway within the board of directors to expand Plant 6, targeting completion by 2027.

During the first half of his address, Rim highlighted Samsung Biologics' record-breaking annual performance and order achievements last year, underpinned by world-class production quality and capacity.

"Our cumulative order total since establishment is over $17.6 billion. Annual revenue in 2024 is also projected to grow by 15–20 percent year-on-year, a remarkable 15-fold increase compared to our revenue in 2016, the year we went public."

To address such surging demand from the market and its clients, Samsung Biologics is taking proactive steps to expand its production capabilities.

Plant 5, which began construction in April 2023, is slated for operation in April this year. Last December, the company completed an antibody-drug conjugate-dedicated production facility to strengthen its competitiveness in the oncology sector.

In the CDO sector, Samsung Biologics launched five new platforms and solutions in 2024, including S-Tensify and S-AfuCHO.

The company plans to continue its growth by expanding in three key areas: production capacity, business portfolio and geographical presence.

It also intends to establish an end-to-end service process for new modalities -- methods used to deliver drugs -- such as ADCs and cell and gene therapies, including adeno-associated viruses, enabling rapid supply.

On the portfolio front, Samsung Biologics is broadening its production scope from existing areas such as monoclonal antibodies, drug products and mRNA to include ADCs. The company aims to enhance its DP capabilities by the first quarter of 2027, including the establishment of an ADC DP-dedicated line.

By October 2027, it plans to develop a fully automated prefilled syringe production facility to meet the growing demand in the Asian market.

Investors and industry officials attend the Samsung Biologics' presentation session presented in the Grand Ballroom of the Westin St. Francis Hotel, San Francisco, on Tuesday. (Samsung Biologics)
Investors and industry officials attend the Samsung Biologics' presentation session presented in the Grand Ballroom of the Westin St. Francis Hotel, San Francisco, on Tuesday. (Samsung Biologics)

Meanwhile, Samsung Biologics is pursuing digital transformation by building a proprietary "customer portal."

The initiative includes creating a "data lake" to consolidate real-time data and integrating it with manufacturing execution systems, quality execution systems and operational execution systems.

"We are actively leveraging insights from Samsung and fully integrating them into our automation strategy, which will enable our clients to have 24-7 access to the massive-scale data lake we’re developing around the clock," Rim explained.

As for geographical expansion, Samsung Biologics is strengthening its presence in Asia by opening a sales office in Tokyo, Japan, to foster closer collaboration with Japanese and Asian clients, on top of its New Jersey office which works for North America and Europe.

At the conference, Samsung Biologics also emphasized its commitment to being a sustainable CDMO partner by actively supporting its clients' ESG initiatives and leading sustainable practices within the biopharmaceutical industry.

Samsung Biologics has been invited to this conference for nine consecutive years since 2017. The CEO presented in the Grand Ballroom of the Westin St. Francis Hotel, an honor reserved for just 27 companies among over 550 participants.

Rim's presentation on Tuesday was scheduled alongside global pharmaceutical giants such as GlaxoSmithKline, Eli Lilly and AstraZeneca.