Bristol-Myers Squibb and Samsung BioLogics agree production alliance

Bristol-Myers Squibb and Samsung BioLogics have announced a new ten-year biopharmaceutical manufacturing agreement.

The alliance will focus on the production of a commercial antibody cancer drug, with technology transfers and trial production commencing immediately, while commercial production will begin following regulatory approvals.

It comes as part of Bristol-Myers Squibbs' strategy of creating long-term relationships with high-quality manufacturing partners around the world and will see the new drug produced at Samsung's recently-completed plant in Songdo Incheon in South Korea.

Samsung's facilities are custom designed for monoclonal and recombinant production with maximum flexibility, with the firm offering a wide variety of one-stop services for drug developers.

Louis Schmukler, president for global manufacturing and supply at Bristol-Myers Squibb, said: "This agreement increases our biologic manufacturing capacity to help ensure sufficient long-term supply of our commercial products."

Last week, Bristol-Myers Squibb announced its financial results for the second quarter of 2013, during which it achieved a net sales total of $4 billion (2.63 billion pounds).