Samsung Biologics Q1 driven by full capacity utilization

Full utilization across its three plants has enabled the CDMO to report 41% revenue growth in the first quarter, says Samsung Biologics.  

For the first quarter 2023, contract development manufacturing organization (CDMO) Samsung Biologics reported total revenues of KRW 720.9 billion ($539 million), a 41% increase year-on-year.

Net profit for the first three months were KRW 141.8 billion , a slight decrease on Q1 2022’s KRW 146.9 billion, attributed to “the elimination of intercompany transactions” after the acquisition of Samsung Bioepis in January 2022.

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CEO John Rim said the results have been “enabled by the groundwork we have laid with our strategic capacity expansion plans, our first quarter results demonstrate stable revenue growth as we continue to drive strong operational excellence and business agility with full utilization of Plants 1, 2, and 3.”

Samsung Biologics’ first plant has 30,000 L of capacity from six 5,000 L tanks while the second offers 150,000 L of capacity through 10 times 15,000 L fermenters (plus a further two 1,000 L stainless steel tanks for clinical manufacture). The third facility consists of 180,000 L of capacity from 12 times 15,000 L tanks, plus another two 1,000 L tanks.

A fourth ‘super plant’  will add another 240,000 L of capacity. The project was first announced in 2020 and the first phase of operations began in October last year, bringing 60,000 L of capacity on line.

“With continued partnership expansion with global pharma, we are focused on achieving sustainable growth and securing more robust capacity with Plant 4 set to be fully operational by June and the groundbreaking of Plant 5 to occur later this year. We will continue to anticipate client needs and execute on opportunities to meet the increasing market demand for biomanufacturing capacity,” said Rim.