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Samsung Biologics signs $189 million drug manufacturing contract with European partner

Published: 13 Mar. 2026, 11:44 Updated: 13 Mar. 2026, 14:18

Samsung Biologics' factory in Incheon [JOONGANG ILBO]

Samsung Biologics said Friday that it signed a contract worth $188.95 million with a European pharmaceutical company to manufacture drugs under a contract manufacturing organization agreement.

According to the statement released by the company on Friday, the amount is equivalent to 6.15 percent of the Korean company’s sales based on its 2024 consolidated financial statements. The identity of the partner will be revealed in March 2032 due to confidentiality requirements.

“The contract was signed in August last year, but it was not disclosed at the time because the amount did not meet the disclosure threshold under the contract conditions,” Samsung Biologics said. “On March 13, the minimum purchase volume was finalized as the contract conditions were fulfilled, leading to the disclosure.”

Last year, Samsung Biologics posted 4.5 trillion won ($3 billion) in consolidated revenue and 1.3 trillion won in operating profit, the highest since its founding. The company also signed three orders worth more than 1 trillion won each last year, pushing its total annual order volume past 6 trillion won.

Samsung Biologics has been aggressively expanding global contract drug manufacturing backed by production capacity of 845,000 liters (223,200 gallons), one of the largest levels in the world. This year, the company plans to begin full operations at its fifth plant at the second bio campus in Songdo, Incheon, and prepare for the construction of a sixth plant.

In December last year, the company invested $280 million to acquire GlaxoSmithKline’s production facility in Rockville, Maryland, securing its first manufacturing base in the United States.

Samsung Biologics received the Asia Pacific Biopharma Excellence Awards during the Biologics Manufacturing Asia 2026 held in Singapore earlier in the week. The company recently also agreed with Eli Lilly to establish a new site for Lilly Gateway Labs, an open innovation program aimed at fostering promising domestic biotech companies in Songdo.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY KIM KYUNG-MI [[email protected]]