Quintiles supports Samsung’s entry into biopharmaceuticals

Samsung Electronics, a South Korean manufacturer of electronics, has partnered Quintiles to support its entry into the biopharmaceuticals market.

US biopharmaceuticals firm Quintiles will make a minority 10% investment of about US$30m in setting up a biopharmaceutical manufacturing plant in the Songdo district, near Seoul, in the first half of 2011.

The plant will be equipped with an 8,000-gallon (30,000 litres) mammalian cell culture bioreactor capacity capable of producing 1,300lb (600kg) of biopharmaceutical products.

Samsung will own the remaining 90% of the joint venture company in the following proportions: Samsung Electronics (40%); Samsung Everland (40%), and Samsung C&T Corporation (10%).

Anand Tharmaratnam, senior vice president and head of Asia markets at Quintiles, said that South Korea is an important part of Quintiles’ growth strategy in Asia and the partnership illustrates how the firm can use its resources to help companies achieve their strategic goals.

The joint venture company represents Samsung’s first step into the biopharmaceutical business. Samsung also plans to commercialise biosimilars by 2016, and expand into innovative biologics in the future.