CMO deal with US pharmaceutical company expanded by 30.3 billion won

Contract value up 93% from previous disclosure, reflecting long-term partnership

This year's orders approach 3 trillion won; cumulative total tops $22 billion

Samsung Biologics' Plant 4. [Samsung Biologics]
Samsung Biologics' Plant 4. [Samsung Biologics]

Samsung Biologics has sharply increased the value of a biopharmaceutical contract manufacturing (CMO) deal with a US-based pharmaceutical company, reaffirming the lock-in effect it has built with global big pharma.

Samsung Biologics disclosed Monday that the contract value for the CMO agreement with the US firm had been revised upward — from 32.53 billion won ($24.4 million) to 62.82 billion won. The amendment adds 30.3 billion won to the original contract.

In dollar terms, the total contract value rose from $28.67 million to $55.37 million, an increase of $26.7 million — up roughly 93.1 percent from the previously disclosed figure.

The deal traces back to a letter of intent for biopharmaceutical production signed in March 2020, with the main contract concluded in November of the same year.

As demand from the client grew, the contracted volume expanded, leading to a first increase in December 2023 and the latest amendment now.

The contract runs from Oct. 28, 2020, through Dec. 31, 2030 — a period of approximately 10 years. The identity of the counterparty and the specific product names will remain undisclosed until the end of 2030 under confidentiality provisions.

Samsung Biologics, whose cumulative order total based on minimum take-or-pay (MTOP) commitments has surpassed $22 billion since its founding, is now on the verge of breaking the 3 trillion won mark in annual orders this year, driven by major new contracts and expansions of existing ones with global big pharma.

The company is pressing ahead to secure confirmed orders by leveraging its world-leading production capacity of 845,000 liters and the expansion of global hubs, including its facility in Rockville, Maryland.

With an order backlog more than three times last year's annual sales of 4.56 trillion won ($3.41 billion), Samsung Biologics aims to sustain stable medium- to long-term growth momentum.


silverpaper@heraldcorp.com