Samsung enters biopharma market with Quintiles joint venture

Quintiles to make minority investment in Samsung biosimilars’ manufacturing facility.

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK (NORTH CAROLINA), US: To support Samsung’s entry into the biopharmaceuticals market, Quintiles has entered into a strategic partnership with Samsung, Quintiles announced in a press release. Under an agreement signed recently, Quintiles will make a minority 10 per cent investment of approximately $ 30 million to start a new joint venture company with Samsung in the first half of 2011 to provide biopharmaceutical contract manufacturing services in South Korea. The strategic partnership will support Samsung’s entry into the biopharmaceutical market and reinforces Quintiles’ role as an ally to help companies succeed in the new health landscape.

The joint venture company represents Samsung’s first step into the biopharmaceutical business. Samsung also plans to commercialize biosimilars by 2016 and expand into innovative biologics in the future. Plans call for the joint venture company to construct a biopharmaceutical manufacturing plant in Songdo, Incheon, South Korea. Groundbreaking is expected in the first half of 2011 and full-scale operation is expected to commence in April 2013. The plant will be equipped to produce 1,300 pounds (600 kilogram) of biopharmaceutical products. The products are expected to be sold mostly in international markets.

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