Seen is Samsung Biologics' promotional booth at the CPhI bio pharmaceutical exhibition in Frankfurt, Germany, Monday. Courtesy of Samsung Biologics

Over 60 Korean firms join Europe's largest pharmaceutical exhibition

By Baek Byung-yeul

FRANKFURT ― Samsung Biologics and other biotechnology companies in Korea will showcase their technologies and seek more business opportunities with global buyers at this year's CPhI bio pharmaceutical exhibition, according to the companies, Monday.

The CPhI is an annual exhibition in the bio pharmaceutical industry held in Europe. This year's event will be held for three days from Tuesday to Thursday in the German city of Frankfurt. The event organizer expects that this year's event will attract more than 40,000 visitors with more than 2,500 companies from 170 countries participating.

In addition to Samsung Biologics, over 60 Korean companies, such as Celltrion, SK Pharmteco, Lotte Biologics, Dong-A ST and Yunhan Corporation, take part in the event to promote their technologies in front of global experts and buyers.

Samsung Biologics, one of the top companies in the contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) business, which develops and manufactures drugs for client companies, has been taking part in the event, installing an independent booth every year since 2018, except for the 2020 event, which was held online.

Under the slogan, "Accelerating Excellence," Samsung Biologics aims to expand the number of new customer companies, a company spokesman said.

"The 238-square-meter Samsung Biologics' booth is located at the center of the exhibition hall," the spokesman said. "During the event, the company seeks to hold various events for visitors and conduct business networking."

The company said its slogan shows the company's overwhelming speed and quality of competitiveness, aiming to become a global leading bio company.

On the wall of its booth, a large-sized panel was installed to promote how the company has innovated its technology at a glance and videos were showing the company's competitiveness in the CDMO business such as its fourth plant, which recently started operating only 23 months after construction; the S-DUAL, a bispecific antibody platform; and the Developick platform, a service that selects candidate materials for new drugs.

In addition, Samsung Biologics will provide visitors with a tablet PC containing brochures and videos to enhance their understanding of the company's service. The company will also conduct a digital survey on its clients and visitors in order to understand the demand and trends in the industry. To strengthen networking activities with its clients, the company set up a separate meeting room at its booth.

During the event period, its executives will also take part in the official events of the CPhI exhibition. On the first day, Kevin Sharp, vice president of the global sales strategic operation at Samsung Biologics, will deliver a presentation titled, "What are the key considerations in choosing the right CDMO partner?"

On the second day, James Choi, executive vice president and chief information and marketing officer of the company, will present the firm's ESG management strategy and how it has responded to climate change under the theme of, "Samsung Biologics' commitment to ESG as a first leader among CDMO."