Samsung Signs MOU with US Flagship Pioneering to Accelerate Bio Investment

Strengthening Cooperation Through Funds with Samsung Biologics and Samsung Bioepis

Samsung C&T is taking the lead in the market through global bio startup investments together with its group bio subsidiaries.

Samsung C&T announced on the 9th that it has signed a strategic cooperation memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Flagship Pioneering, a U.S. bio-pharmaceutical investment company, through the 'Life Science Fund No. 2' established together with Samsung Biologics and Samsung Bioepis.

Photo by Yonhap News

Under the MOU, they agreed to collaborate in areas such as artificial intelligence (AI) in the bio field, translational medical research, cutting-edge technologies related to biopharmaceutical development platforms, and high-quality clinical trial infrastructure. The MOU also includes exchanges between Samsung C&T and various innovative startups under Flagship Pioneering.

Flagship Pioneering is a bio-specialized venture capital (VC) firm founded by the creators of Moderna, the pharmaceutical company that developed the mRNA COVID-19 vaccine. Since its establishment in 2000, it has been recognized as one of the global 'Top 3' VCs with cumulative assets under management reaching 19 trillion KRW. It has invested in 165 companies, actually founded over 100 companies, and is known to have listed more than 30 companies including Denali and FogHorn.

Since October 2021, Samsung C&T and its group bio subsidiaries have cooperated with Flagship Pioneering and Samsung Biologics to produce Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine domestically to overcome the pandemic.

Additionally, in August 2022, Samsung invested 15 million USD in Senda Biosciences, a company under Flagship Pioneering, through the 'Life Science Fund No. 1.'

Samsung emphasized that this strategic cooperation reflects its commitment to leading innovation in the biopharmaceutical industry.

Jae-woo Kim, Vice President in charge of Life Science Business at Samsung C&T, said, "We hope that Samsung’s bio expertise and commercialization experience will help the technologies of bio companies under Flagship Pioneering to be introduced to the market more quickly. We also look forward to expanding early investment opportunities in future bio technology companies that will change the world."

Steven Berenson, Managing Partner at Flagship Pioneering, said, "We expect that the combination of Flagship Pioneering’s capabilities in planning and nurturing bio platform companies and Samsung’s strengths in analytics, clinical development, and manufacturing will innovatively transform the biopharmaceutical industry."

Samsung C&T stated that it will continue to collaborate with global VCs such as Flagship Pioneering and pursue investments in domestic and international VCs as well as discover new businesses together with its group bio subsidiaries.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.