A new generation of drugs, produced from living materials, not from chemicals. They are very expensive but also very effective in diseases such as cancer or diabetes, and technology is part of its creation much more than is believed.

South Korean company Samsung is famous for its handsets - the Galaxy smartphone is the best selling in the world , despite the strong competition of the iPhone - and its televisions. But in 10 years maybe it is for your medicines .
Since 2011 it has expanded to the pharmacological sector and is currently building its third plant for the creation of biopharmaceuticals that promise to be the future of the treatment of diseases such as cancer , diabetes , multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis . "The bio-drug market is projected to exceed USD 223.7 billion in 2021 , according to Bloomberg Businessweek .

What are these complex drugs?

Unlike most drugs, which are chemicals synthesized from other substances, biopharmaceuticals are produced from living materials . That makes them more effective in treating difficult diseases . It also makes their manufacture a much more complicated process, and that is why they tend to be expensive.
For example, Avastin (Bevacizumab), which treats breast, ovarian, colon, kidney and brain cancer, cost USD 4,400 per month per patient when Roche began marketing it. Its annual global sales are USD 6.8 billion.
Biopharmaceuticals inaugurated a different kind of disease treatment from surgical and chemical treatments. They come from complex molecules made from living microorganisms, plant or animal cells. Many use recombinant DNA technologies.

By 2015, six of the top 10 most-selling drugs in the world were biopharmaceuticals , including Remicade (Infliximab, Johnson & Johnson and Merck, used against rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis and plaque psoriasis). Which generates US $ 10.1 billion annually, and Lantus (insulin glargine, original recombinant DNA, from Sanofi, for diabetes), which bills USD 8.1 billion annually.

The maximum blockbuster is Humira (Adalimumab): it is not only the best-selling biological drug, it is the best-selling drug in the world, among all drugs . Abbott Laboratories, with Abbott Laboratories, generates USD 13 billion annually.
Currently the industry produces 4 million liters of biological drugs in the world, and is expected to double by 2030 . Samsung builds its third plant to produce drugs to double its incidence in that growing market.

According to Bloomberg , the reason is simple: his expertise in semiconductor manufacturing and engineering allows him to make biopharmaceuticals more efficiently than large drug companies . That's why the other two plants already produce for Roche (Switzerland) and Bristol-Myers Squibb in United States couple with other locations.
An article in Fierce Pharma said that new facilities located on the west coast of South Korea, one hour from Seoul, will cost USD 750 million and will include 15,000 liter bioreactors. "With 118,618 square meters [almost 30 acres] the plant will have twice the surface of a standard stadium for the [Soccer] World Cup."
That plant, which is called Edison and will be ready by the end of 2017 to inaugurate its production in late 2018, will give Samsung BioLogics (as it is called the company) the ability to become the number one producer of this class of drugs.

Its competitors are important: the Swiss group Lonza, Germany's Boehringer Ingelheim, Japan's Fujifilm. Others resort to generic alternatives, biosimiles , which are made once the original patents have expired.
"The last 40 years of global economic growth have been fueled by technology," Kim Tae-han, executive director of the sector, told Bloomberg. And making a biological plant looks like making a semiconductor. For example, there are sterile environments that could not tolerate a speck of dust or any other form of minimal contamination. That's why Edison is built without nuts and bolts, to avoid puncturing . Everything is welded or placed to fit."

In 2007 Kim was commissioned to look for new expansion areas for Samsung. He studied 60 possible sectors, and discarded electric cars to focus on biopharmaceuticals. It was not easy to convince the company's board of directors, but it had the indirect support that the South Korean government provides to the biopharmaceutical sector, including a geographical area with a 50-year profit without rent payment for the land.
Once it completes its third plant, the technology company will be "the largest contractor in the world focused exclusively on biopharmaceuticals, as said by Fierce Pharma : a capacity to produce 362,000 liters . The 1,700 employees that currently concentrate the two original factories will add between 340 and 500 more. The new investment will be about USD 2.6 billion.