Samsung Epis Holdings has officially entered the new drug development market. Following its ventures in contract development and manufacturing (CDMO) and biosimilar development, the company plans to expand its business scope to include new drug platform technologies, thereby solidifying its position in the biopharmaceutical value chain.

On the 11th, Samsung Epis Holdings announced the establishment of its subsidiary, Epis Next Lab, which will develop 'platform technology' for new drug development infrastructure. The newly established Epis Next Lab is a subsidiary of Samsung Epis Holdings, a bio-investment holding company formed through a spin-off from Samsung Biologics. The company stated its intention to develop various bio-platform technologies centered around peptides (amino acid compounds).

'Platform technology' can be considered an infrastructure technology for new drug development. For example, it includes technologies that change the formulation of injectable drugs from intravenous to subcutaneous (SC) forms or technologies that allow unstable peptide drugs to last longer in the body. These technologies are not limited to specific drugs or diseases and can be applied to the development of various new drugs, making it a research and development (R&D) field that many domestic and international bio companies are currently pursuing.

The choice of platform technology by Epis Next Lab is interpreted as being due to the significant synergy with Samsung Bioepis's biosimilar business. As competition in the biosimilar market intensifies, securing differentiation from other biosimilar products or original drugs through platform technology development has become crucial beyond price competition. An industry insider stated, "With Samsung Biologics, Samsung Bioepis, and other bio companies within the Samsung Group achieving good results annually, the bio business has become one of Samsung's main future growth engines," and added, "They will develop platform technologies that can maximize the synergy of the three bio companies."

The head of Epis Next Lab will be Vice President Hong Sung-won (56), who also serves as the head of Development Division 1 at Samsung Bioepis. Vice President Hong holds a bachelor's and master's degree in pharmacy from Seoul National University and a Ph.D. in pharmacy from the University of North Carolina. He joined Samsung Bioepis after serving as a director at Regeneron Pharmaceuticals and as the head of the New Drug Research Center at LG Chem.

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