John Rim’s 4 Years That Changed the Bio Landscape: From Latecomer to ‘Samsung’s Savior’

[Korea Financial Times, Kim Nayoung] If you were to name the next-generation growth engine to follow semiconductors in the Samsung Group, it would undoubtedly be the bio business. While other core divisions faced downturns, Samsung Biologics consistently broke its own performance records, securing its position as the group's second-largest company by market capitalization.

However, Samsung Biologics initially struggled. Despite Samsung's KRW 2-3 trillion investment, the company remained in the red for six years after its 2011 founding, with no tangible results. It was even considered a latecomer in the domestic market, trailing behind Celltrion and Hanwha Chemical.

The situation is different now. In recent years, Samsung Biologics has established itself as a global hub for biopharmaceutical production, backed by overwhelming production capacity (CAPA) and quality competitiveness. Its explosive growth curve has led the industry to dub Samsung Biologics as "Samsung's relief pitcher."

The rapid growth of Samsung Biologics can be largely attributed to CEO John Rim's management skills. CEO John Rim transformed the company into a global leader in Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization (CDMO) within four years, applying his 30 years of experience in the pharmaceutical and biotech industries to Samsung Biologics.

Born in 1961, John Rim graduated from Columbia University with a degree in chemical engineering, obtained a master's degree in chemical engineering from Stanford University, and completed an MBA at Northwestern University. He then held various positions at multinational pharmaceutical companies Roche and Genentech, including production, sales, development, and CFO roles.

Rim joined Samsung Biologics in 2018 as the head of the CMO2 Center. In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, he successfully secured a vaccine production contract with Moderna amid fierce competition. Recognizing his achievements, he was appointed as the company's CEO and President in December of that year.

Since Rim took the helm, Samsung Biologics has seen a dramatic increase in orders: KRW 1.1602 trillion in 2021, KRW 1.7835 trillion in 2022, KRW 3.5009 trillion in 2023, and KRW 5.4035 trillion last year, showing steep growth each year. This year, the company has already secured a massive contract worth KRW 2.0747 trillion with a European pharmaceutical company in January. For comparison, the average order value from 2016 to 2019, before Rim's leadership, was around KRW 375.6 billion.

These achievements are largely due to Rim's on-site management strategy, leveraging his global network. In 2018, Samsung Biologics had only three global big pharma clients - Pfizer, AstraZeneca, and Janssen. Now, it has successfully partnered with 17 out of the top 20 big pharma companies (as of October 2024).

With increased orders, the company's performance has grown rapidly. Samsung Biologics' annual revenue jumped from KRW 1.5860 trillion in 2021 to KRW 3.0013 trillion the following year, becoming the first in the pharmaceutical and biotech industry to join the "KRW 3 trillion club."

It then reached KRW 3.6946 trillion in 2023 and KRW 4.5473 trillion in 2024, again becoming the first in the industry to join the "KRW 4 trillion club." During the same period, operating profit steadily increased from KRW 537.3 billion to KRW 986.3 billion, KRW 1.1137 trillion, and KRW 1.3201 trillion.

John Rim is not content with these achievements. As part of his "super gap" strategy emphasized since his appointment, he continues to focus on expanding capacity. In CDMO, an outsourcing business, capacity equals competitiveness. The company's current capacity of 604,000 liters is the largest among global CDMOs.

With the completion of Plant 5, scheduled for operation in April this year, capacity will increase to 784,000 liters. CEO John Rim plans to further expand to Plant 8, aiming to secure 1,324,000 liters by 2032.

He remains eager to acquire more clients. CEO Rim's next target is Japan, the third-largest market after the US and Europe. By attracting Japanese clients, he aims to expand the order range from the global top 20 to the top 40 companies. To this end, a sales office will be opened in Tokyo.

At the regular shareholders' meeting on March 14, Rim emphasized, "To expand our order range beyond the global top 20 to the top 40 companies, we will open a sales office in Tokyo, Japan, and further strengthen cooperation with Asian clients, including those in Japan. We plan to maintain our world-class super gap through Plant 5, which will be completed next month."

Kim Nayoung, Korea Finacial Times (steaming@fntimes.com)