Samsung Biologics, an award-winning CDMO, has been able to navigate the difficulties presented by the COVID-19 pandemic. The company also made strides to invest in social aspects of ESG to continue to educate and attract new talent. Through these steps, not only was Samsung Biologics able to deliver strong growth during the past two years, the company has been able to invest in the future.
The success of every sector is dependent on the development of young talent and the encouragement of that potential to join a firm or an organization. Samsung Biologics has set in place a variety of different measures to keep recruiting and educating future candidates in order to retain the company’s high quality of work, ambition for growth, and desire for perfection, among other things.
Samsung Biologics has distinguished itself over the past year as the company expanded and added more pharmaceutical capabilities. Emphasis on new locations, ESG, and rising technologies like mRNA and other medical advancements have attracted several new partners to work with the company.
CEO and CMO of the Year
In 2021, Samsung Biologics and its CEO were both recognized as outstanding in the field of biopharma manufacturing. CEO John Rim was named CEO of the Year by South Korea’s economic magazine Hankyung Business. The CEO was credited for the many accomplishments that the company achieved in the past year, including high revenue in the second and third quarters.
Some of these partnerships include: GreenLight Biosciences, Enzolytics, Kineta, and KAHR Medical Ltd. GreenLight Biosciences, a biotech company that makes RNA products, struck a contract with Samsung Biologics in November 2021. Samsung Biologics will produce GreenLight’s COVID-19 vaccine candidate as part of the greater push to work on mRNA development and manufacturing. In May 2021, Samsung Biologics had also come to an agreement for fill/finish manufacturing of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine.
In recognition of all their efforts, Samsung Biologics received the Asia-Pacific Vaccine Excellence Award 2021’s Best Vaccine CMO Award from Impactful Connections and Intelligence (IMAPAC). “It’s an honor to receive this award and be recognized as a team for our efforts and capabilities to manufacture vaccines in a short time frame,” said David King, director of Drug Product Operations at Samsung Biologics.
To address the expanding demand in the biotechnology industry, Samsung Biologics has already expanded its business portfolio and manufacturing capacity. It’s expected that the CDMO would be able to supply pharmaceutical firms with full-cycle mRNA vaccine production services from bulk drug ingredients through aseptic fill/finish, labeling, and packaging, as well as cold chain storage, by the first half of 2022. “We recently announced plans to add an mRNA drug substance suite to our site by the first half of 2022 to diversify our service offerings. We see great potential for mRNA technology to address a broader range of diseases, beyond COVID-19,” said James Choi, Executive Vice President, Chief Information and Marketing Officer, in an interview.
Investing in the Future of the Industry
Samsung Biologics has also invested in the future of the pharmaceutical business in order to benefit both the company and the rest of the industry. Attracting and cultivating future biopharmaceutical sector talent will be a priority for Samsung Biologics, which inked a memorandum of understanding with Incheon Jaeneung University in June 2020. This program outlines a relationship between the school and the CDMO industry to produce courses, organize field excursions, and provide internships to students who want to enter the industry.
In order to develop and implement new and better technologies and techniques, Samsung Biologics has made a concerted effort to bring together top scientists and experts.
Samsung Biologics’ initiatives have also included a focus on expansion. For the firm’s future growth and development, Samsung Biologics recently stated it was investing in its own company. An investment of $240 trillion won ($205 billion) will be made in all of Samsung’s businesses, including Samsung Biologics. In addition, 40,000 new employees will be added to the group’s roster, and at least 560,000 jobs will be created via investment and manufacturing. And in January 2022, Samsung Biologics announced it had reached an agreement with Biogen for the buyout of Biogen’s stake in the Samsung Bioepis joint venture, a move that’s expected to improve autonomy and agility in business operations and accelerate novel drug development.