Samsung Biologics is building its new biopharmaceutical “super plant”

The world's largest biotechnology facility

EQUANS has signed a 54-million-euro contract with Samsung Biologics to supply a fourth vaccine production plant at its Seoul site, making the Group the general contractor for the world’s largest CDMO (Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization). To strengthen its position in the biopharmaceutical market, the South Korean company is continuing its expansion and investing $1.5 billion in the construction of this fourth facility, which will establish it as the world’s largest biotechnology site. The plant will have a total installed production capacity of 256,000 liters. Pierre Guerin has been entrusted with the construction of the bioreactors.

An Industry 4.0 Factory

This new plant will feature a modular design that allows for greater flexibility and the ability to begin certain production activities by the end of the year. Plant No. 4 will be fully operational in 2023. The equipment and its instrumentation will be integrated with data integrity and cybersecurity systems to minimize risks and enable secure, real-time access to information. Thanks to its various bioreactor lines—ranging from 2,000 liters to 10,000 liters and 15,000 liters—this Industry 4.0 facility will support a wide variety of project types tailored to customer needs: from “high-volume” commercial projects to smaller-scale developments. This flexibility will be achieved through Pierre Guérin’s involvement in the design and manufacture of bioreactors, areas in which the French company has developed world-class expertise. This is also one of the reasons why Samsung Biologics chose Pierre Guérin as its sole supplier of bioreactors.