Samsung's drugmaker affiliate, called Samsung Biologics, is planning to build a $2 billion drug manufacturing plant to be completed in 2022, The Wall Street Journal reported.
The plant is set to be about 2,475,700 square feet, making it the largest in the world.
Samsung said it wants to capture an "unprecedented increase in demand" caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the Journal. The pandemic has also exposed global reliance on China and India for drug production, which can threaten drug supply chains and cause shortages.
Samsung Biologics makes drugs for some of the world's largest drugmakers, including Bristol Myers Squibb and Roche, the Journal reported.
Samsung Biologics CEO Kim Tae-han said the plant was originally going to be much smaller, but the company pushed for an expansion after seeing the increase in demand for COVID-19 treatments. Last quarter, the drugmaker saw manufacturing orders nearly triple over the previous year to $1.5 billion, the Journal reported.
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