Samsung Looks Beyond Smartphones to Next-Gen Biologics

  • South Korean giant building $740 million drugmaking factory
  • Chaebol wants to be a leader in biopharmaceuticals by 2030
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The Samsung brand is best known for its smartphones and wide-screen TVs. Yet behind the scenes, the conglomerate is also making a name as a contract manufacturer of complex medicines to treat diseases like cancer.

On a piece of reclaimed land along the western coast of South Korea, Samsung BioLogics Co. is building a $740 million factory that will give it the capacity to become the No. 1 producer by volume of a class of drugs called biologics, many of which are derived from mammal cells.