South Korea’s Samsung Biologics has recently entered into another significant manufacturing agreement, this time with Pfizer, worth $411 million. The deal involves Samsung providing additional large-scale manufacturing capacity for a diverse portfolio of biosimilars, spanning oncology, inflammation, and immunology. The partnership between the two companies is described as a long-term arrangement.
Pfizer’s biosimilar portfolio includes replica versions of Roche’s renowned cancer drugs Rituxan, Avastin, and Herceptin, along with biosimilars of Johnson & Johnson’s Remicade and Amgen’s Neupogen.
According to industry experts cited by The Korea Herald, it is expected that the Samsung collaboration will also encompass the production of Pfizer’s biosimilar to AbbVie’s blockbuster drug Humira. Humira generated sales of $21.24 billion for AbbVie last year. While Amgen is already marketing a biosimilar version of Humira, Pfizer and several other companies are set to enter the market this year.
Samsung Biologics stated in a financial filing that the value of the deal with Pfizer amounts to $411 million, making it the largest agreement of its kind for the company and surpassing its previous record deal worth $359.7 million with AstraZeneca. This partnership follows Samsung Biologics’ earlier $184 million deal signed with Pfizer in March.
John Rim, President and CEO of Samsung Biologics, expressed his enthusiasm about the collaboration, saying, “This new meaningful partnership comes just as our Plant 4 is fully completed early this month as we had previously committed and are on the move for future expansion into our second campus in order to provide our clients with even more flexible and advanced manufacturing technology.”
In addition, Samsung Biologics announced that its $1.5 billion Plant 5 is expected to commence operations by April 2025. Once operational, the facility will contribute 180,000 liters of capacity to the company’s campus in Incheon, South Korea, resulting in a total capacity of 784,000 liters at a single site, the highest in the industry. The company had previously aimed to open the facility sometime in 2025 but has now provided a more specific timeline.
