In just six months this year, Samsung Biologics secured over 2 trillion won ($1.5 billion) in contract manufacturing organization (CMO) orders, the company said on Monday. 

The amount surpassed the annual orders of 2022 and it is the first time the figure reached 2 trillion won in the company’s history since its founding in 2011.

In a public filing on Monday, Samsung Biologics announced that it has revised its contract with Novartis. The initial contract, which was signed in June last year, had a value of $81 million (100.5 billion won). However, Samsung Biologics has now increased the contract by an additional $399.3 million (40.52 billion won), resulting in a total contract value of $471.9 million (511.1 billion won).

This is the second CMO deal that the company signed this month. Samsung Biologics had announced one new and one increased CMO contract with Pfizer on July 4, totaling $897.1 million (1.17 trillion won).

This brings Samsung Biologics' cumulative order this year to 2.33 trillion won, surpassing the 1.9 trillion won recorded in 2020, which had been the company's largest annual CMO order.

The company has also continued to secure clients from the top 20 global pharmaceutical companies, which was part of its annual goal this year.

In 2018, Samsung Biologics had only three clients among the top 20 global pharmaceutical companies.

However, with the recent addition of one major undisclosed top-tier global pharmaceutical company, the company has succeeded in securing a total of 13 of the 20 companies, including Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Janssen, Eli Lilly, Merck (MSD), Roche, and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK).

Samsung Biologics broke ground on its fifth plant to proactively respond to the rapidly growing demand in April. 

The completion date is set for April 2025, five months earlier than the previously reported September 2025, and the company plans to focus on preempting the market based on its overwhelming speed competitiveness.

Upon completion of Plant 5, Samsung Biologics' total production capacity will reach 784,000 liters.

Despite a series of good news, Samsung Biologics' shares reach a 52-week low

Despite the company's successive CMO deals with global pharmaceutical companies, Samsung Biologics' shares hit a new 52-week low on Monday amid earnings concerns.

On the morning of Monday, Samsung Biologics' stock price hit a new 52-week low of 713,000 won during intraday trading.

Samsung Biologics' stock price has been sliding due to net selling by institutions and foreigners.

In the past month, institutions sold 58 billion won, and foreigners sold 183 billion won worth of Samsung Biologics, dragging down the stock price.

Notably, except for one day on June 29., foreigners have been net sellers of Samsung Biologics since June 10.

According to a securities analyst, the stock has been weakening due to uncertainty for Samsung Biopeis and Organon's Humira biosimilar marketability and the operation of competitors' new facilities.

"With Boehringer Ingelheim and Sanodz's Humira biosimilars have been added to the private insurance formulary of OptumRx, one of the top three pharmacy benefit managers in the U.S., it has become unclear whether Samsung Bioepis and Organon's Hadlima will be included in the OptumRx formulary," said Kim Min-jeong, an analyst at DS Investment and Securities. "In addition, Samsung Biologics' stock price has recently declined on concerns of a decline in average selling price (ASP) as the operation of competitors' new facilities is approaching, including Fujifilm's 120,000 liters plant in 2023 and Lonza's 120,000 liters plant in 2024."

However, Kim stressed that such concerns are limited.

"Regarding Hadlima being included in the OptumRx formulary, I do not expect a significant impact on the valuation of Samsung Biologics as its core CDMO business remains strong and the Humira similar market is already conservatively estimating sales and operating income due to aggressive price cuts and intensifying competition," she said.

For concerns over the operation of new plants by Samsung Biologics' competitors, Kim said it is important to note that Samsung Biologics has confirmed that there is no known decline in unit cost per batch.

"As a result, I believe the adjustment is overdone given the current CMO order activity," she said.

As of 3:00 p.m. Monday, Samsung Biologics' shares stood at  706,000 won.