Top 20 big pharma clients rise from 3 to 17 as orders and earnings grow in tandem
‘4E, speed and digital twin’ drive super-gap strategy, while CEO compensation doubles in five years
Samsung Biologics CEO John Rim and a panoramic view of the company’s bio complex. <Photo of the complex and CEO John Rim: Samsung Biologics · An Hye-wan>
[Insight Korea = An Hye-wan]
Samsung Biologics CEO John Rim has secured a third consecutive term. Since taking the helm of Samsung Biologics in late December 2020, he has been regarded as a CEO who has taken the lead in putting into practice the “super-gap strategy” emphasized by Samsung Chairman Lee Jae-yong.
Rim was reappointed as an inside director at Samsung Biologics’ 15th annual general shareholders’ meeting, held on the 20th at Songdo Convensia in Incheon. Speaking at the meeting, Rim said, “This year is particularly meaningful as we mark our 15th anniversary,” adding, “We will enhance corporate value to improve shareholder value and contribute to economic growth.”
To that end, Rim has laid out a strategy centered on accelerating expansion along three axes: production capacity, portfolio and global bases. It is also the management strategy he has emphasized most consistently since 2021, effectively his first full year in office.
In more concrete terms, the company aims to strengthen its competitiveness in contract manufacturing (CMO) and contract development (CDO), while expanding new business lines such as antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) and organoids, with the goal of establishing itself as an end-to-end player in the global market.
Visible growth
Rim has effectively proven his case for a third term through the company’s management performance over the past five years. Samsung Biologics, under his leadership, became the first company in South Korea’s pharmaceutical and biotech industry to post historic milestones such as 3 trillion won and 4 trillion won in consolidated annual revenue.
Samsung Biologics’ revenue surged from 1.568 trillion won and operating profit of 537.3 billion won in 2021 to 4.5569 trillion won and 2.0692 trillion won, respectively, in 2025. Revenue nearly tripled, while operating profit almost quadrupled, marking what could be described as a quantum-jump level of growth.
Performance trends at Samsung Biologics and changes in CEO John Rim’s compensation. <Google Gemini AI-generated image · Financial Supervisory Service filings · Reporter An Hye-wan>
As earnings climbed, the company’s standing within the Samsung group also rose sharply. Last year, just 14 years after its founding in 2011, Samsung Biologics became the first company in Korea’s biotech sector to surpass 2 trillion won in annual operating profit. Aside from Samsung Electronics, whose operating profit stands in the 40 trillion won range, Samsung Biologics has established itself as one of the few highly profitable affiliates within the group.
Such earnings growth was made possible in part by Rim’s global network, which helped bring in CMO deals with global big pharma companies. Rim is widely recognized as a pharmaceutical and biotech expert with 37 years of experience. In particular, his background at global drugmakers such as Roche and Genentech is seen as having borne fruit at Samsung Biologics. Drawing on that experience, he has led the company’s sales efforts and contributed to winning orders.
Over the past five years, order intake has indeed risen steeply. In 2025, annual order value exceeded 6 trillion won, the largest since the company’s founding. Annual orders rose steadily from 1.1602 trillion won in 2021 to 1.7835 trillion won in 2022, 3.5009 trillion won in 2023 and 5.4074 trillion won in 2024.
What stands out is not only the quantity of orders, but also their quality. When Rim first joined Samsung Biologics as executive vice president in 2018, the company counted only three of the world’s top 20 big pharma companies among its clients. After Rim moved to expand the client portfolio, Samsung Biologics now has 17 of the top 20 as customers as of 2025.
According to the counterparties listed under “major sales contracts” in the company’s business report, six top-tier pharmaceutical companies — Johnson & Johnson affiliate Cilag, GSK, Eli Lilly, AstraZeneca, Roche and MSD — were named in 2021, Rim’s first full year with the company. Novartis was added in 2022, bringing the total to seven. That number rose to 14 in 2023, and has now reached 17 out of the top 20 global pharma companies.
Samsung Biologics’ core strengths: quality and speed
Rim is known to have consistently highlighted quality and speed as Samsung Biologics’ core competitive strengths at the negotiating table with global big pharma clients. The company has also continuously emphasized that, based on production capacity, standardization and scalability, it can deliver speed, reliability and predictable outcomes. That message aligns closely with Rim’s leadership approach.
At the JPMorgan Healthcare Conference 2026, Rim said, “Through our core values of 4E — excellence, customer satisfaction, quality competitiveness, operational efficiency and employee capability — and our execution strategy of 3S — standardization, simplification and scalability — we will further solidify our super-gap competitiveness.”
Samsung Biologics has also improved transparency in its manufacturing processes through digital transformation, including showing clients real-time factory conditions during order consultations. Rim has likewise stressed the central importance of quality, calling it “the absolute standard in the biotechnology business, which deals with human life, and our mission that must be upheld without compromise under any circumstances.”
To turn 4E into execution, Rim has pushed 3S — simplification, standardization and scalability — as a way to accelerate decision-making and execution on the ground. One representative example of speed is the shortening of tech transfer timelines. Through efficiency improvements, Samsung Biologics has reduced the period needed for technology transfer from the six to nine months typically required by competitors to just three to four months.
Another principle Rim has emphasized to strengthen execution is the spirit of “One Team.” Samsung Biologics is a relatively young organization, with an average employee age of around 30. The company has been drawing execution power from a One Team culture that brings those capabilities together.
Photo of Samsung Biologics’ second campus. <Samsung Biologics>
More recently, beyond quality and speed, the area Rim has been focusing on most to secure super-gap competitiveness is the advancement of AI and digital capabilities. The strategy is to use digital twin-based virtual operations and process simulations to speed up scenario testing and shorten the time required to move from development to manufacturing. Upgrades to the manufacturing execution system (MES), electronic manufacturing batch records (eMBR) and autonomous mobile robots (AMR) are also being cited as tools to raise productivity and quality standards.
As Samsung Biologics’ revenue and operating profit have grown rapidly, Rim’s performance-based compensation has also increased significantly. According to IR disclosures, Rim’s bonus, including performance-linked incentives, rose from 2.437 billion won in 2021 to 6.33 billion won in 2024, while he received 4.921 billion won in 2025. In terms of total compensation, including salary and bonuses, his pay more than doubled from 3.125 billion won in 2021 to 6.689 billion won in 2025.
-This article was translated by ChatGPT. (이 기사는 챗GPT가 번역했습니다.)
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