Samsung accelerates marketing efforts in bio business

By Choi Sung-jin

The Samsung Group is stepping up efforts to carve out a larger share of the global biopharmaceutical market. 

According to industry sources, Samsung BioLogics, which manufactures pharmaceutical goods on consignment, will dedicate its third plant in Incheon this month. 

Production capacity is similar to the 150,000 liters at its second plant which will start operating in the first half of next year. In total, the company will have 330,000 liters capacity, the most in the world. The company plans to expand capacity to 400,000 liters by 2020. 

Samsung BioLogics has contracts with multinational giants, including Brystol-Myers Squibb, Roche and Merck.

"We will announce detailed operational plans of the third plant to the stock market by the end of this month," a company official said. 

Samsung Bioepis, a research and development company of biosimilar products _ copies of biopharmaceuticals _ is also set to make its debut overseas.It recently received "positive views" from the EU's pharmaceutical agency about marketing its products for rheumatoid arthritis. The company anticipates it will receive EU approval for two more products. 

"Our research efforts in biosimilar areas are beginning to bear fruit one by one," a company official said, adding that it plans to list the company on the U.S. NASDAQ market in the first half of next year.