Samsung Biologics held a board of directors meeting on Friday and announced that it will invest 1.9 trillion won ($1.45 billion) to build Plant 5, its fifth biopharmaceutical contract manufacturing organization (CMO) plant in Songdo, Incheon.

Plant 5 will be the first plant in Bio Campus 2 and will be built to produce about 180,000 liters of biopharmaceuticals, which is similar to the scale of the third plant on Campus 1.

The company will break ground for Plant 5 this year and complete the construction by September 2025, it said. 

While Samsung Biologics invested approximately 85 billion won in the construction of the third plant, it will invest more in the construction of the fifth plant as the factory will be built on a new site, which will require additional infrastructure costs.

Meanwhile, Samsung Biologics also held a shareholders' meeting on Friday.

At the shareholders' meeting, Samsung Biologics CEO John Rim said that the company will accelerate its three mid- to long-term expansion strategies -- production capacity, business portfolio, and geographic base -- that it first unveiled at the 2023 J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference earlier this year.

"Samsung Biologics posted strong growth even in the global economic downturn," Rim said. "Despite the poor economic outlook for this year, we will continue to grow strongly."

The company will increase production capacity by successfully completing Plant 4 and building Bio Campus 2 in Songdo, Incheon, Rim added.

Rim stressed that the company plans to invest 7.5 trillion won in Bio Campus 2, including 1.9 trillion won in Plant 5, to build research facilities to foster next-generation pharmaceutical technologies.

"We will also expand our portfolio with next-generation medicines such as ADCs and gene therapy drugs to quickly respond to changing market trends, and strengthen the competitiveness of our contract development organization (CDO) capabilities," Rim said. "Also, we will establish more bases in overseas regions to increase customer satisfaction."

Samsung Biologics will continue to strive to become a top-tier global bio company, Rim added.