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This undated photo, provided by Samsung Biologics, shows one of its three plants in Songdo in Incheon. (Samsung Biologics) |
South Korean pharmaceutical firm Samsung Biologics Co. said Tuesday it has signed a long-term agreement with US pharmaceutical firm Eli Lilly and Company to manufacture a novel coronavirus-neutralizing antibody.
Under the contract manufacturing organization (CMO) agreement, Samsung Biologics will provide Eli Lilly's investigational neutralizing antibody for the treatment of COVID-19 patients.
Earlier this month, the US Food and Drug Administration granted emergency use authorization for the investigational therapy, which is used for the treatment of mild to moderate COVID-19 in adults and pediatric patients 12 years and older with a positive COVID-19 test.
Samsung Biologics, a biopharmaceutical unit of South Korea's largest conglomerate Samsung Group, was established in 2011 and went public five years later.
Along with CMO, Samsung Biologics engages in the contract development organization (CDO) and contract research organization (CRO) sectors. It has three plants in Incheon, which can crank out 362,000 liters of biosimilars per year, the world's largest volume.
In August, the company said it will build a fourth plant in the country in response to rising manufacturing demand. The 1.7 trillion-won ($1.4 billion) plant in Incheon will have a bioreactor capacity of 256,000 liters, the company said in a regulatory filing.
With the fourth plant's completion, Samsung Biologics will secure a combined bioreactor capacity of 620,000 liters, making it the largest CMO facility at a single location in the world. (Yonhap)
