[Samsung Bio-BMS 10-Year Relationship] 321.3 Billion Won CMO Deal for 'Immuno-Oncology' Drugs

Accumulated orders of 2.7 trillion won, expected to reach 3 trillion won this year
The deal means "Plant 4 will serve as a production base for BMS’s flagship products for more than seven years"

Samsung Biologics Plant 4 [Photo courtesy of Samsung Bio]

Samsung Biologics (Samsung Bio) announced on September 18th that it has signed a contract manufacturing organization (CMO) agreement with BMS for immuno-oncology drugs until 2030, with a total value of $242 million (321.3 billion won).

The primary contractor of this deal is Swords Laboratories Unlimited Company, Dublin, Boulder Branch, a subsidiary of BMS.

BMS is focused on development of therapeutics for cancer, hematology, immunity and cardiovascular diseases.

As one of the leading U.S. pharmaceutical companies, it is expanding into new businesses such as chimeric antigen receptor T-cells (CAR-T), which are being recognized as the next generation biotechnology. BMS is ranked at seventh in global sales last year, and its market capitalization is approximately 200 trillion won.

Samsung Bio explained, "This agreement means that Plant 4 will be the production base for BMS's flagship immuno-oncology products for the next seven years".

According to Samsung Bio, BMS was Samsung Bio's first client since it launched its CMO business, and the partnership has continued for more than a decade, with new and expanded CMO engagements to date.

BMS first signed the CMO agreement in 2013, when Plant 1 was up and running, and in April 2014, signed an additional agreement to expand the number of products and the scope of the service collaboration.

Samsung Bio has leveraged this competitive advantage to win new and expanded contracts with not only BMS but also other major global pharmaceutical companies. To date, Samsung Bio has secured 14 of the top 20 global Big Pharma companies as its customers.

Following large orders from big pharma companies such as Pfizer and Novartis this year, the company's cumulative annual orders up to this BMS contract have reached a record 2.7 trillion won and are on track to achieve 3 trillion won annually.

"As the global demand for biopharmaceuticals is rapidly increasing, we are proactively making investment to secure production capacity in advance," said a representative from Samsung Bio, "In 2020, we broke ground on Plant 4 (240,000 liters), the world's largest single plant, and began full operation in June 2023. The total production capacity is 604,000 liters, which is by far the largest in the world."

[WIKI KOREA=Cho Pil Hyun, Staff Reporter]

chop23@wikileaks-kr.org

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