Samsung Biologics’ Plant 4 remains a worthwhile $2 billion investment.
The CDMO said that the facility was key in its first-quarter gains and will continue to be for the rest of the year. Although the South Korean company did not break down its revenue by facility, it said on Wednesday that much of its Q1 earnings at 946.9 billion Korean won ($690 million) were due to Plant 4 and its biosimilar business — a 31% increase from the 720.9 billion Korean won ($525 million) it reported in Q1 last year.
For the rest of the year, Plant 4 is forecast to help boost the company’s sales between 10% and 15%. In January, it said the facility is anticipated to contribute around 20% of its total drug substance business by the end of the year and 30% by 2025.
Several large pharma assets are made in Plant 4. In September last year, Samsung Bio announced it signed a contract worth around $242 million with Bristol Myers Squibb to manufacture an unnamed cancer antibody at the facility. Three months earlier, the CDMO said it had a $411 million contract with Pfizer to produce biosimilars for immunology, inflammation and oncology at the same site.
Samsung Bio started Plant 4 operations in October 2022 after breaking ground in November 2020. The site can manufacture a range of assets, from early-stage to those already in the market. It houses 240,000 liters of capacity for manufacturing biosimilars.
The company has its eyes on further growth with Plant 5 that will zero in on antibody-drug conjugates. It’s set to open next April and is five months ahead of its completion date, after construction started in March 2023.
John Rim“With accumulated orders exceeding $12.5 billion, the demand for our client-centric services remains robust,” Samsung Biologics CEO John Rim said in a statement. “Proactive investments in cutting-edge therapeutic technologies and the ongoing construction of our ADC facility will drive our advancements in next-generation drug development,” he added.
Samsung Bio’s overall net income for Q1 this year amounts to 179.4 billion Korean won ($130.5 million), up from the 141.8 billion Korean won ($103 million) reported in the same quarter last year.
Editor’s note: This article was updated to correct that the 31% increase is due to Plant 4 and its biosimilar business.