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Samsung Electronics’s executive chairman, Lee Jae Yong, has been holding meetings with leaders of the leading biopharmaceutical and biotechnology companies to forge joint ventures or enter into partnership deals.
The Samsung Electronics chief reportedly met up with global executives of some leading brands in the biotech and biopharma industry, including Johnson & Johnson’s chief executive officer, Joaquin Duato; Biogen’s chief, Christopher Viehbacher; Bristol Myers Squibb’s CEO, Giovanni Caforio; Kevin Ali, Organon’s CEO; and Noubar Afeyan of Flagship Pioneering.
Lee held meetings with them during his recent trip to the United States. Korea Joongang Daily reported that the Samsung leader has a goal of securing partnership agreements with them as he is seeing the biopharma and biotech fields as the company’s new growth drivers.
The Samsung chairman also commented during his trip, "The starting point is not important, but bold and persistent challenges set victory apart from defeat. Let us continue the success story of chips with bio."
In any case, Lee Jae Yong is trying to get contracts for the company’s CMDO arm, Samsung Biologics, which is currently the largest contract manufacturing and development organization in the world based on production capacity.
While it is a latecomer in this market, Samsung Biologics is doing fairly well since it was first established in 2011. Samsung Electronics owns 31.22% of shares in its affiliate CMDO firm.
"The bio-industry is a field with high barriers to entry, requiring not only production technology and R&D capabilities but also trust and reputation building for long-term collaboration,” The Korea Times quoted Samsung as saying in a statement regarding the chairman's move to seek collaborations with US bio companies. “Lee's wide global network is expected to serve as a lever for Samsung's bio business to expand collaboration with big pharmaceutical companies and create future growth opportunities."
