Samsung Biologics targets APAC market with end-to-end CDMO push

Samsung Biologics is accelerating its push into the Asia-Pacific market, leading with its end-to-end contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) services — spanning research through commercial production — and next-generation modality capabilities.

The company held a technology seminar Wednesday at the Pacifico Yokohama Convention Center in Yokohama, Japan, on the sidelines of Bio Japan 2026, Asia's largest biotech and pharmaceutical exhibition, where it unveiled its strategy to strengthen leadership in the APAC region. Samsung Biologics has participated in the event for four consecutive years since 2023, operating a dedicated booth to pursue new client partnerships in the region.

James Choi, executive vice president of sales support at Samsung Biologics, told the seminar that Japan is a pioneer in modality innovation, noting that three of the world's top five antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) therapies originated from Japanese pharmaceutical companies. "To bridge laboratory-level innovation to commercialization, we will offer an end-to-end partnership covering contract research, contract development and CMO," he said.

Choi also laid out a concrete infrastructure roadmap to back that commitment. He said the company plans to expand total production capacity to more than 1.3 million liters by 2032 through the development of a third bio campus, up from the current 845,000 liters in operation. He added that the company aims to maximize production flexibility by bringing a dedicated drug product line online in August next year and establishing a prefilled syringe line in 2028.

Choi also disclosed the timeline for Samsung Biologics' peptide business expansion, aimed at capturing surging demand for GLP-1 obesity and diabetes treatments, along with details of a global collaboration. Regarding the acquisition of PolyPeptide Group, a global peptide CDMO firm announced in July, he said the company expects to close the deal in November following regulatory approval, with meaningful business synergies expected to materialize from 2027. He added that Samsung Biologics has entered into a strategic collaboration with Eli Lilly to launch a five-story C-Lab Outside facility at its second bio campus in Songdo in July 2027, which will nurture 30 biotech startups.

The company also cited concrete quality metrics to build credibility in the Japanese market. Samsung Biologics, which has been targeting the country's top 10 pharmaceutical companies through a Tokyo sales office opened in 2025, said it has received a total of 23 product approvals from Japan's Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency, 12 of which were obtained within the past three years.

Choi Yeon-jeong, a specialist from the new modality group, then presented the company's ADC manufacturing capabilities using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) technology. "By analyzing fluid flow, heat transfer and mass transport through computer simulation, we have demonstrated that consistent quality can be maintained even as production scales up to commercial levels," she said.