Samsung Biologics207940.KS
About Samsung Biologics
Samsung Biologics is a contract development and manufacturing organization, or CDMO, that produces biologic drugs on behalf of global pharmaceutical companies from large-scale plants in Incheon's Songdo district. The company operates some of the biggest biomanufacturing capacity in the world and earns revenue through long-term production contracts covering antibody-based medicines and related services. It also holds Samsung Bioepis, a biosimilar developer that sells lower-cost versions of off-patent biologic drugs. Samsung C&T and Samsung Electronics are its principal shareholders, placing the company inside the Samsung Group, and capacity expansion has been the main driver of its growth strategy.
Foreign shareholders view the company as a capacity story: contracted orders from multinational drugmakers stretch over multiple years, giving revenue visibility but also concentrating exposure among a limited roster of large pharmaceutical clients. Proposed United States legislation targeting Chinese biotech contractors is watched as a potential structural tailwind for non-Chinese CDMOs. The tight free float, with Samsung C&T holding a controlling position, links the stock to broader Samsung Group ownership arithmetic. The company pays little in dividends, reinvesting cash into new plants, so returns depend on execution of successive expansion phases and biosimilar progress at Samsung Bioepis.
Samsung Biologics was established in 2011 as the Samsung Group's entry into biopharmaceuticals, a deliberate diversification beyond electronics championed by group leadership. The company built its first plant in Incheon's Songdo free economic zone and added successively larger facilities, listing on the Korea Exchange in 2016. Samsung Bioepis, its biosimilar-development arm, began in 2012 as a joint venture with U.S. biotech Biogen and became a wholly owned subsidiary after Samsung Biologics purchased Biogen's stake in 2022. The company weathered a high-profile accounting dispute with Korean regulators over how that venture was valued, an episode that shaped local governance debate.
Contract manufacturing revenue is built on reserved capacity: pharmaceutical clients sign long-dated minimum-volume agreements, often years before production begins, which converts plant construction into a contracted order backlog. Additional income comes from development services, where the company takes client molecules from cell line to commercial process, deepening relationships that later fill manufacturing suites. Scale is the competitive weapon, since larger bioreactor capacity lowers unit costs and lets the company absorb big commercial programs that smaller rivals cannot, positioning it against Lonza, Catalent, and China's WuXi Biologics. Nearly all clients are foreign drugmakers, so contracts are dollar-denominated and export-oriented.
Company profile by LineVest editorial. Journalism, not investment advice.
Samsung Biologics coverage
LineVest covered Korean listings through July 2026. This page is kept as an archive; current coverage is the U.S. market.
Browse the latest reports →Frequently asked questions
What does Samsung Biologics do?
Samsung Biologics manufactures biologic medicines under contract for global pharmaceutical companies, operating some of the world's largest biomanufacturing plants in Incheon, South Korea. It also provides drug-development services and owns Samsung Bioepis, which develops biosimilars, lower-cost versions of off-patent biologic drugs sold in major markets worldwide.
Who controls Samsung Biologics?
Samsung C&T is the largest shareholder, with Samsung Electronics holding another substantial stake, placing the company firmly inside the Samsung Group and its founding Lee family's sphere of control. The free float is comparatively small, and the remaining shares are held by domestic and foreign institutions and retail investors.
How can foreign investors get exposure to Samsung Biologics?
The stock trades on the Korea Exchange under ticker 207940. It has no overseas depositary receipts, so direct ownership requires a broker with Korean market access. Indirect exposure is available through Korea-focused ETFs and some global health-care funds, and partially through shares of its parent, Samsung C&T.
Answers are editorial summaries for general information, not investment advice.
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