Samsung Biologics Co., the biotech arm of South Korea's Samsung Group, announced Monday that it has signed a US$390.9 million agreement to manufacture Novartis Pharma AG's products.

It is the final contract for an investment letter of intent announced in June last year, in which the two companies agreed on a $81 million manufacturing organisation deal, according to a regulatory filing by Samsung Biologics.

The agreement comes shortly after the South Korean drugmaker signed $1.08 billion in partnership contracts with Pfizer, the world's largest pharmaceutical company.

Samsung Biologics said it has received orders worth a cumulative $1.7 billion in 2023 alone, including the large-scale contracts with Pfizer and Novartis, and the numbers are expected to increase by the end of the year.

Samsung Biologics has been expanding its production capacity as part of its strategy to become a major player in the global contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) market.

CDMO refers to a company that handles not only the outsourced manufacturing of drug substances but also all of the innovation and development work that occurs prior to manufacturing one.