BMS taps Samsung for antibody manufacturing
pharmafile | July 30, 2013 | News story | Manufacturing and Production |Â Â BMS, Samsung, antibodyÂ
Bristol-Myers Squibb has given signed a 10-year contract with South Korea’s Samsung BioLogics for the manufacture of one of its antibody-based cancer products.
The unnamed product will be made at Samsung’s 69,000 sq. m. mammalian cell production plant at Songdo Incheon, which started full-scale operations earlier this year.
Under the terms of the deal, technology transfer and trial production gets underway this month, with commercial production expected to follow as soon as the antibody is approved. Financial details have not been revealed.
President of global manufacturing and supply at BMS, Louis Schmukler, said the deal “increases our biologic manufacturing capacity to help ensure sufficient long-term supply of our commercial products”.
BMS has been boosting its own biologics manufacturing capacity with an expansion of its facility in Devens, Massachusetts, that focuses on the production of its fast-growing arthritis treatment Orencia (abatacept), which is due to complete in 2015. The company needs additional capacity however, to cater for the number of large-molecule drugs coming through its pipeline.
BMS has two cancer antibodies in late-stage development, namely nivolumab, a PD-1 inhibitor for melanoma, lung and kidney cancer, and elotuzumab for multiple myeloma. It also has more than a dozen other antibody candidates in early to mid-stage development.
The Incheon facility has a total of 30,000-litres of bioreactor capacity and incorporates upstream and downstream processing units, a fill-and-finish suite, and warehousing with long-term cold storage. A second phase of construction – due to complete in 2016 and come online in 2017, will boost upstream capacity to 95,000 litres.
Samsung may be a relative newcomer to the contract manufacturing scene but ahead of the deal with BMS has already chalked up some big name clients.
In December 2011 it formed a joint venture with Biogen Idec for biosimilar development called Samsung Bioepis, and earlier the partners also signed a development and manufacturing deal with Merck & Co.
“The relationship with BMS represents the validation of our long-term commitment to the biopharmaceutical manufacturing industry,” said Tae-Han Kim, president and chief executive of Samsung BioLogics.
Phil Taylor
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