South Korea's Samsung BioLogics said last week it will spend at least $736 million to build a new manufacturing plant in Songdo, South Korea, that will have a 180,000-liter capacity when it's completed in 2018.
 |
| Samsung BioLogics CEO Tae Han Kim |
The new plant will reside near the company's two existing facilities in Songdo and together all three could help the company achieve its ambition of becoming the world's largest contract drug manufacturer, according to a story in the Wall Street Journal. It currently makes biologics for Bristol-Myers Squibb ($BMY), Roche ($RHHBY) and Merck ($MRK).
Of the company's two current plants, the WSJ said the first is FDA-approved and has a 30,000 liter capacity and the second plant has yet to receive approval from the FDA. The second plant's capacity was not disclosed.
Samsung Biologics said earlier in November that it was considering listing shares on the Nasdaq. It has a joint venture with Biogen Idec ($BIIB) called Samsung Bioepis that develops, makes and markets biosimilars and which itself is scheduled to list in 2016.
- here's the story from the WSJ (sub. req.)
- and one from Reuters