Samsung Biologics launches preclinical testing and clinical trial planning business

Samsung Biologics has unveiled a testing service for preclinical drug candidates in a move interpreted as a bid to enter the CRO sector.

The Incheon, South Korea-based contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) revealed its new service, Samsung Organoids, last week. The company explained that this service will use lab-grown organs to test the safety of developmental drugs.

A spokesperson told Clinical Insider, “Samsung Biologics has continuously invested to further build capabilities and expand service offerings to better accommodate the needs of clients in an involving industry.

“With Samsung Organoids, the company expands its service scope to research, in addition to development and manufacturing. The company will offer data-driven insights into the characteristics and mechanisms of clients’ candidate molecules and help address challenges that may arise in the drug discovery phase by predicting patient responses.

The spokesperson added that, “Through collaboration with clients from the early stages of drug discovery and development, Samsung Biologics plans to support the entire drug journey through its services.”

According to the firm, the new business will add both preclinical services, including target discovery and lead selection, as well as “clinical trial planning” to its offering.

The spokesperson explained, “Samsung Biologics will collaborate with Samsung Medical Center, ranked the world’s third in oncology, to provide genetic analysis data though the screening services, which clients can leverage for clinical trial planning. Additionally, the services will support indication expansion and patient stratification.

The announcement was widely perceived as Samsung’s effort to round out its offering.

An unnamed spokesman told the Korea Economic Daily, “With Samsung Organoid, we can engage clients at the earliest stages of drug discovery. We expect this will create a lock-in effect that leads to future manufacturing contracts.”

The argument is that biopharmaceutical companies looking to minimize the supply base will welcome the opportunity to work with contractors that offer both trial and manufacturing services.

Korea opportunities

Samsung’s move also underlines the fact that Korea is fast becoming a global clinical trials hub.

According to data from the Korea National Enterprise for Clinical Trials, in 2024, Korea ranked sixth globally for industry-sponsored clinical trials and the second most active country in Asia for multinational studies.

In addition, the country’s capital, Seoul, was the second most active city for industry-sponsored clinical trials worldwide last year.

Korea’s growing status as a trial hub is also supported by local CROs’ financial results. Total revenue generated by Korea-based clinical contractors was 546.3 billion won ($420 million) in 2023, up from just 102.3 billion won in 2014.

Revenue generated by the Korean operations of multinational CROs grew to 433.8 billion won from 191.7 billion won over the same period.

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