Global No. 1 CMO Company in Terms of Production Capacity
Samsung Biologics’ market capitalization has surpassed that of Lonza, the world’s largest biopharmaceutical contract manufacturing organization (CMO) company.
Samsung Biologics’ market cap stood at 59.43 trillion won as of April 28, exceeding the 42.85 billion Swiss francs (about 55.62 trillion won) of Lonza Group, which is listed on the Swiss stock market. This gap continued on the next day, April 29 as the stock price of Samsung Biologics gained 0.36 percent from the previous day.
Samsung Biologics is ahead of Lonza in production capacity. Samsung Biologics currently has a production capacity of 364,000 liters at Plants 1, 2 and 3, which is larger than Lonza's 303,000 liters. If Plant 4, the world’s largest single plant with a production capacity of 256,000 liters, is completed by 2023, Samsung Biologics' production capacity will rise to 620,000 liters.
Samsung Biologics is ranked fourth in the KOSPI market after Samsung Electronics, LG Energy Solution, and SK Hynix. Its market cap is larger than such Samsung Group affiliates as Samsung SDI, Samsung C&T, and Samsung Life Insurance.
Samsung Biologics’ earnings growth is expected to continue in 2022. The company has recently acquired Biogen's stake in Samsung Bioepis, making the biopharmaceutical company a fully owned subsidiary. Beginning from the second quarter of 2022, Samsung Bioepis’ business performance will be reflected in the consolidated business performance of Samsung Biologics.
Samsung Bioepis is also a company that continues to grow steadily. Its sales and net profit increased 9 percent and 10.1 percent, respectively, in 2021. In June 2022, the company plans to launch Byooviz, a biosimilar of Lucentis, a treatment for macular degeneration, in the U.S. market. Samsung Bioepis’ license agreement with Genentech allows it to sell the product in the United States before Genentech’s supplemental protection certificate (SPC) expires. Lucentis racked up 4 trillion won in global sales in 2021, of which 1.8 trillion won was generated in the U.S. market.
Samsung Biologics will start producing raw materials for Greenlight Bioscience’s mRNA vaccine candidate for clinical tests next month. Plant 4 is scheduled to start its partial operation in October 2022. The company has signed contracts with three large pharmaceutical companies to produce five products for them at Plant 4, Samsung Biologics CEO John Rim said. “We are in talks with 20 drugmakers over production of 30 products at Plant 4.”
Samsung Biologics is also accelerating the creation of new growth drivers. The company has its first Bio Campus (270,000 m²) in Songdo District 11, Incheon. It is now in the middle of purchasing additional land for its second Bio Campus. It plans to start the construction of Plant 5, a multi-modal plant, within 2022 and secure a site for Plant 6 and the Open Innovation Center in Songdo, Incheon.