Samsung Biologics to Build Plant 5 as Part of Capacity Expansion to Bio Campus II

Samsung Biologics announced on March 17, 2023 that it will begin construction of a fifth plant (Plant 5) near its current Songdo International Business District site in Incheon, South Korea, that will hold a capacity of 180,000 L. The company will invest more than ₩1.9 trillion (US$1.5 billion) in the new facility as part of its strategic capacity expansion, which is in response to increased market demand.

The company expects to break ground in the first half of 2023 and aims to start up operations in 2025. Plant 5 will be the first facility of the company’s second campus (Bio Campus II), which encompasses 96,000 m2, and, upon full completion, Samsung Biologics will hold a total of 784,000 L of manufacturing capacity.

The new plant is expected to further maximize operational efficiency and introduce advanced digitalization and sustainability features, according to a company press release. Samsung Biologics, which purchased 360,000 m2 of land in July 2022 for Bio Campus II, expects to house additional large-scale plants and an open innovation center on the campus. Overall, the company plans to invest ₩7.5 trillion (US$5.7 billion) in Bio Campus II.

The existing Plants 1 through 3 are at near-full utilization, while Plant 4, which started partial operations in October 2022, is expected to ramp up to full operations by mid-year 2023, according to the press release.

“Given the continuing increase in the demand for outsourced manufacturing of biopharmaceuticals, we are proactively making this investment in alignment with our growth strategy to further strengthen our standing as a leading CDMO [contract development and manufacturing organization],” said John Rim, president and CEO of Samsung Biologics, in the release. “The new facility will enable us to provide our customers with even greater innovation and services that will increase speed to market and flexibility.”

Source: Samsung Biologics