Korean CDMO juggernaut Samsung Biologics continued its sales surge in the second quarter, with its biosimilars subsidiary, Samsung Bioepis, doing much of the heavy lifting.
For the period, Samsung Bioepis achieved (PDF) sales of 530 South Korean won ($384 million), which was a 107% year-over-year increase and a 75% sequential boost.
The company does not specify individual sales of its biosimilars but its portfolio is loaded with copycat versions of powerhouse drugs.
In July of last year, Samsung and Organon launched Hadlima, their biosimilar version of AbbVie’s Humira, in the U.S.. Samsung Biopeis develops, manufactures and supplies Hadlima in the U.S. while Organon handles its commercialization.
Expect Samsung Bioepis' roll to continue as it has earned several other recent FDA approvals. Earlier this week, Samsung gained an FDA nod for Epysqli, its biosimilar edition of AstraZeneca’s rare blood disease blockbuster Soliris. Three weeks ago, the agency signed off on Pyzchiva, Samsung's biosimilar version of Johnson & Johnson’s Stelara. In May, came an FDA nod for Opuviz, Samsung and Biogen’s copycat of Regeneron and Bayer’s Eylea.
The success of the biosimilar business helped spur the parent company to another lucrative quarter as Samsung Biologics topped the 1 trillion mark in South Korean won for the first time at 1.16 trillion ($839 million).
It was a 34% increase year over year and a 22% boost sequentially. The sales surge fueled a profit increase of 71% year over year and 96% sequentially to 434 billion South Korean won ($314 million).
In Samsung’s earnings report, there were lots of bar graphs and line charts, all telling the same story of dramatic year-to-year growth. Forget the post-pandemic malaise that slammed the CDMO industry. Samsung had none of that. Its violet-colored bar graphs show undisturbed revenue increases—with a deeper shade of purple symbolizing the most recent and lucrative period.
Samsung now counts contracts with 16 of the world’s top 20 drugmakers, the company said, which is up from 14 a year ago. That includes a $1 billion production deal with an unnamed U.S. pharma company, which extends through 2030, which was revealed in a financial disclosure earlier this month.
The company attributed its continued rise to the full utilization of its three plants and CEO John Rim cited the successful ramp-up of Plant No. 4. On its sprawling campus in Incheon, Samsung also said it expects to open Plant No. 5 in April of 2025. Additionally, it is constructing an ADC production facility on the site with its launch targeted by the end of this year.