CDMO Samsung Biologics Invests $15 Million in Senda Biosciences Through Life Sciences Fund

Samsung continues to invest in biotechnology. In August 2021, Samsung announced a plan to invest 240 trillion Korean Republic won (about $205 billion) through 2023 across its businesses, including contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) Samsung Biologics. A month prior, the CDMO had launched a joint investment fund, the Samsung C&T Life Sciences Fund, with Samsung C&T. Now, that fund has announced a $15 million investment in Senda Biosciences, a Massachusetts-based biotechnology company.

In investing in Senda, the fund’s goal is to support the development of core technologies that will be instrumental in the evolution of next-generation biopharmaceuticals. Samsung Biologics explained that the fund’s decision to invest in Senda was based on the company’s advanced programmable drug delivery platform.

“Senda Biosciences has a platform technology that applies artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies to millions of nanoparticle big data found in animals, plants, and bacteria to create an optimized drug delivery system,” said Samsung Biologics in a statement on the investment.

About the Samsung C&T Life Sciences Fund

 The Samsung C&T Life Sciences Fund was established in July 2021 with the aim of funding venture companies to support the development of innovative biotechnology for health care industry applications.

The fund’s first investment was in the rapidly growing gene therapy market. In March 2022, it invested in Jaguar Gene Therapy, a biotech company focused on developing gene therapies that utilize adeno-associated virus (AAV) vectors as a delivery mechanism for DNA targeted for therapeutic purposes.

Jaguar Gene Therapy was founded by the team responsible for the development of the spinal muscular atrophy gene therapy drug Zolgensma,_, and the company is now working on investigational AAV-based gene therapies for galactosemia, autism spectrum disorder, and Type 1 diabetes.

As a leading CDMO, Samsung Biologics’ investment in the growing field of gene therapy is in line with its investment in other growth areas in biopharmaceuticals, including mRNA vaccine production.

The decision to invest in Senda furthers this approach, with the company applying its programmable drug delivery platform in areas such as mRNA vaccines and gene therapy.

About Senda Biosciences

Senda Biosciences was founded by Flagship Pioneering, a venture capital company known for launching vaccine-maker Moderna.

In addition to utilizing nanoparticles for efficient drug delivery, Senda’s technology can be applied to nucleic acids, gene editing, proteins, and peptides, and it’s expecting to develop alternative treatments for autoimmune diseases, metabolic diseases, and cancer.

The platform works by using high-resolution molecular profiling to build a database of the properties of natural nanoparticles. This database is then used to program nanoparticles to achieve a desired therapeutic result, such as targeting a specific tissue or cell.

Samsung Biologics plans to partner with Senda as this platform advances, with the CDMO explaining that it will strengthen collaboration with Senda when the platform begins to be used in the development of new drugs.

Multidimensional CDMO Growth

 Samsung Biologics’ investment in Senda comes as the CDMO continues to pursue a multidimensional growth plan with what CEO John Rim refers to as three pillars of growth: increasing manufacturing capacity, diversifying its portfolio, and expanding its global footprint.

“By expanding our business areas, we will evolve to become a global biopharmaceutical company with great responsibilities to better serve our clients, patients, shareholders, and ultimately society,” said Rim in a 2022 letter to shareholders.

The CDMO’s more large-scale portfolio diversification efforts in 2022 have come in mRNA and biosimilars. In May, Samsung Biologics completed the construction of an end-to-end mRNA vaccine production suite, and in April, Samsung Biologics completed the full acquisition of Samsung Bioepis, a biosimilars company that the CDMO founded as a joint venture with Biogen in 2012.

In a recent article, James Park, executive vice president and chief business officer at Samsung Biologics, explained that the company is keeping in mind that building the capabilities to adapt to new technologies will be a crucial component of the success of CDMOs going forward.

“As mRNA treatments become more advanced, targeting advanced cancers and heart disease, and the potential of cell and gene therapies widens, offering adaptability and flexibility to support these projects is critically important,” said Park. “By preparing for the multimodalities of new technologies, these CDMOs have subsequently placed themselves in good stead for an array of new therapeutics on the horizon, including multimodal mRNA, plasmid DNA (pDNA), viral vectors, and other gene therapy products.”

In addition to investing in new biopharmaceutical technologies, Samsung Biologics continues to build on its foundation as an industry leader in manufacturing capacity. In October 2022, Samsung Biologics’ fourth manufacturing plant is expected to begin partial operations at its headquarters in Songdo, South Korea. When the plant begins full operations in 2023, it will provide 256,000 liters of capacity, the largest of its kind; this will bring Samsung Biologics’ total manufacturing capacity to 620,000 liters across its Songdo facilities, the most in any single location.

Samsung Biologics also recently acquired 357,366 square meters (about 88.3 acres) of land in Songdo for the construction of a second Bio Campus, which will be 30% larger than the CDMO’s current campus and will house an open innovation center.

Rim summarized the company’s growth trajectory in a statement on its second-quarter earnings report.

“Samsung Biologics delivered another strong quarterly performance ahead of our guidance with our revenue exceeding KRW 1 trillion for the first half of the year. Operations are seamless across all our plants, and the partial completion of Plant 4 is just around the corner, scheduled to commence operations in October this year,” said Rim. “We completed a deal to fully acquire Samsung Bioepis, expanding and diversifying our revenue base and business portfolio. More recently, we have officially signed an agreement to purchase land for Bio Campus II. All these factors signal that we have a strong momentum going, and that we are well on track in our expansion plans to serve the increasing market demands.”