Biogen Ups Samsung Bioepis Stake In $700m Bet On Biosimilars

While Biogen's exercise of its call option in biosimilar joint venture Samsung Bioepis may help further boost the biosimilar company's global presence and leadership in the sector, the focus in South Korea is more on how the change may affect the outcome of an ongoing accounting inspection at Samsung BioLogics, Samsung Bioepis' biggest shareholder.

Call option
Biogen exercises call option in Samsung Bioepis • Source: Shutterstock

Biogen Inc. has exercised an option to purchase additional shares in Samsung Bioepis Co. Ltd., a joint venture established in 2012 by Samsung BioLogics and the US firm, in a move that will raise its stake to nearly 50% and allow Biogen to jointly run the biosimilars venture.

Under the terms of the original joint venture agreement, Biogen will pay Samsung BioLogics about $700m for the option shares, increasing Biogen’s ownership in Samsung Bioepis from about 5.4% to about 49.9%

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