South Korean contract manufacturer Samsung Biologics hopes to tap into the booming peptide production and weight loss market with plans to buy out Switzerland-based CDMO PolyPeptide for 1.46 billion Swiss francs ($1.8 billion).<\/p>\n
The offer<\/a> comes to $44.31 Swiss francs ($54.75) per share, which marks a 6% premium on PolyPeptide\u2019s closing price entering the weekend. It also represents a 12% premium to the CDMO’s volume-weighted average share price over the previous 60 days.<\/p>\n The transaction will be the largest ever by a Korean biopharmaceutical company, according to the Korea JoongAng Daily. It comes eight months after Samsung Bio moved to establish its presence in the United States through a $280 million buyout<\/a> of GSK\u2019s pair of Human Genome Sciences manufacturing facilities in Rockville, Maryland.<\/p>\n PolyPeptide, which was spun out from Ferring Pharmaceuticals 30 years ago, boasts active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) sites in India, France, Belgium and Sweden, as well as two U.S. sites in California. In addition to its headquarters in Switzerland, PolyPeptide also has an R&D site apart from its manufacturing facility in France.\u00a0<\/p>\n The company, which employs roughly 1,400 people, reported<\/a> (PDF) revenue of 389 million euros ($439 million) in 2025, which was up 16% over the previous year. PolyPeptide had previously telegraphed an expected revenue increase of 20% to 25% for this year.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThis acquisition reinforces our long-term growth strategy by not only broadening our service portfolio with modality expansion into peptides including\u00a0GLP-1, but by also boosting our geographic reach,\u201d John Rim, CEO of Samsung Biologics, said in a release.<\/p>\n Fifteen-year-old Samsung Bio already has\u00a0significant manufacturing firepower<\/a>\u00a0on its home turf in Incheon, South Korea, where it boasts 785,000 liters of capacity across five plants spread over two co-located campuses, with a third campus on the way.<\/p>\n With the purchase, Samsung Biologics will expand its capabilities beyond the production of antibodies and antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs). The company called peptide therapeutics \u201cone of the fastest-growing segments of the biopharmaceutical industry, driven by surging global demand for obesity treatments and the continued expansion of peptide-based therapies into new disease areas.\u201d<\/p>\n Samsung Bio expects to launch the offer by the end of August, with the aim to close the deal by the end of the year. Swiss law requires a 30-day period for reviewing<\/a> merger agreements.<\/p>\n PolyPeptide\u2019s board has unanimously recommended to shareholders that they accept the offer. The company\u2019s largest owner, Draupnir \u200bHolding, which holds more than 55% of its stock, backs the merger. In response to takeover rumors in April, Draupnir and PolyPeptide\u2019s board said they were reviewing<\/a> strategic options.\u00a0<\/p>\n The deal \u201crepresents a transformational opportunity to accelerate our strategic ambitions at a scale we could not reach alone\u2014creating a stronger global partner for customers and a platform uniquely positioned to lead the next phase of growth in peptide-based therapeutics,\u201d Peter Wilden, PolyPeptide\u2019s board chair, added in the release.<\/p>\n In part because of their complexity, many large pharmaceutical companies farm out the production of peptides.\u00a0<\/p>\n