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Samsung Bioepis
Samsung Bioepis was established in 2012 as a strategic venture between Samsung Biologics and the US biotech firm Biogen. The partnership was designed to...
Samsung Bioepis
Samsung Bioepis was established in 2012 as a strategic venture between Samsung Biologics and the US biotech firm Biogen. The partnership was designed to combine Samsung's expertise in large-scale mammalian cell culture manufacturing with Biogen's deep knowledge of complex glycoprotein characterization. By 2022, Samsung Biologics bought out Biogen's entire stake for $2.3 billion (per company disclosures, 2022), consolidating control over Bioepis to streamline its global commercial expansion. Christopher Hansung Ko, a long-tenured R&D executive within the Samsung group, has been CEO since the firm's inception. The firm concentrates exclusively on biosimilars — near-identical copies of approved biologic drugs — across immunology, oncology, and endocrinology. Its core portfolio spans four approved products that reference some of the largest biologic brands in the world: Benepali (etanercept), Flixabi (infliximab), Imraldi (adalimumab), and Ontruzant (trastuzumab). An ophthalmology biosimilar for ranibizumab, Byooviz, marked the company's entry into the US market. Unlike venture-funded biotech startups, Samsung Bioepis operates with the capital weight of a major conglomerate. Commercialization is handled through regional partners; in the United States, it goes to market through Organon (a Merck spinoff), and in Europe via Biogen's legacy distribution network, though this is transitioning to Samsung's own European affiliate. Headquartered in Incheon, South Korea, with its R&D and manufacturing embedded in the Songdo bio-cluster, Samsung Bioepis employs over 1,000 people (public record). The firm broadened its investment footprint by co-creating the Samsung Life Science Fund with Samsung C&T, a vehicle designed to back external biotech innovators whose technology can complement its biosimilar engine. In 2025, the corporate structure shifted when parent entity Samsung Epis Holdings was formed, a move emblematic of Samsung's efforts to create more agile governance for its life sciences assets. Samsung Bioepis's structural advantage lies in its deployment speed. It can build a new 180,000-liter bioreactor plant faster than most competitors can scale a pilot lab, a dynamic that turns capital-intensive manufacturing into a proprietary sourcing advantage. The firm's governance now sits under Samsung Epis Holdings, separating its fate more cleanly from the broadening contract development and manufacturing business of Samsung Biologics while keeping it firmly inside the larger Samsung C&T ecosystem.
General information
Firm type
Corporate Investor
Year founded
2012
AUM
Undisclosed
Location
Region
Asia
Country
South Korea
City
Incheon
Corporate office
76, Songdogyoyuk-ro, Yeonsu-gu, Incheon, 21987, South Korea
Principals
Christopher Hansung Ko
President & CEO
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
How does Samsung Bioepis source its pipeline of biosimilar candidates?
The firm's pipeline is driven by patent expiration forecasting for complex biologic molecules with high global revenues. Samsung Bioepis targets therapies where it can apply its process development expertise to achieve analytical similarity with the reference product, alongside the manufacturing capacity of the Songdo campus to produce at globally competitive costs. Candidate selection is an internal R&D decision, supplemented by the Samsung Life Science Fund's capability to monitor adjacent innovations.
What is the nature of Samsung Bioepis's commercial relationship with Organon?
Organon holds commercialization rights for several Samsung Bioepis biosimilars, principally in the United States, following a 2021 agreement. This allows Samsung Bioepis to focus on development and manufacturing while leveraging Organon's established commercial infrastructure and payer relationships in the US market. In markets like Europe, Samsung Bioepis increasingly commercializes products directly through its own affiliates.
Does Samsung Bioepis operate like a venture capital investor, or is it a pure-play operating company?
Samsung Bioepis is primarily an operating company that develops, manufactures, and sells biosimilar pharmaceuticals. Its investor profile is through the Samsung Life Science Fund, a corporate venture vehicle established with Samsung C&T to invest in external biotechnology companies. This fund's mandate is strategic, seeking technologies and platforms that are synergistic with Bioepis's core biosimilar business.
How is Samsung Bioepis governed, and what was the impact of the Biogen buyout?
The governance shifted materially when Samsung Biologics acquired Biogen's 49% stake in Samsung Bioepis for $2.3 billion in 2022 (per company disclosures). The buyout gave Samsung Biologics near-total control, eliminating a joint-venture dynamic that required trans-Pacific coordination. Further restructuring in 2025 placed Samsung Bioepis under the newly created Samsung Epis Holdings, a move interpreted as a precursor to creating more focused and potentially independent governance for the biosimilar business within the Samsung group.
What is the Samsung Life Science Fund's known investment posture?
The Samsung Life Science Fund is a corporate venture capital vehicle co-managed with Samsung C&T. Its mandate is to back emerging biotech and life sciences companies, providing Samsung Bioepis with a window on novel modalities and platforms. The fund invests from a strategic rather than a purely financial basis, with the potential for the biotech startups to later partner with or supply technology to Samsung Bioepis.
Profile maintained by Altss using OSINT (open-source intelligence), regulatory filings, licensed data partners, and verified direct submissions. Read the methodology. Last updated: . Continuous refresh with full update cycles at least every 30 days.
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