[Hwasun=Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Ji-woon] Hwasun-gun, Jeollanam-do (Governor Gu Chung-gon) is making every effort to attract the ‘K-Bio Lab Hub,’ a platform supporting startup and venture companies in new drug development, in collaboration with Jeollanam-do.
The county and Jeollanam-do recently announced on the 21st that they submitted a detailed business plan for the K-Bio Lab Hub construction project to the Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS).
The K-Bio Lab Hub construction project will invest a total of 335 billion KRW by 2024 (250 billion KRW from the national government and 85 billion KRW from local governments).
The MSS plans to complete on-site evaluations by this month and select one candidate site for the project in July.
The K-Bio Lab Hub is modeled after ‘Lab Central,’ a bio startup support institution in Boston, USA, which produced Moderna, aiming to nurture new drug development companies such as therapeutics and vaccines and lead the global market.
Recently, the county started a signature campaign for resident consent, beginning with a meeting with county council members and obtaining unanimous consent signatures for financial support, while preparing cooperation plans with local related organizations.
A total of 7,387 residents participated in the signature campaign, and related organizations and groups such as the Office of Education, Fire Station, Nonghyup, and bio research institutes are supporting through a relay cheering campaign.
The county plans to establish the K-Bio Lab Hub on a site of about 40,000㎡ within the biopharmaceutical industrial complex, expecting a synergistic effect by linking and utilizing the various research infrastructures and technology development platforms already established in the Hwasun Vaccine Special Zone.
The Hwasun Vaccine Special Zone, the only one in Korea, has all the foundations to support the entire process from vaccine and biopharmaceutical research and development to production in a one-stop manner, including ▲R&D (Biopharmaceutical Research Center, Chonnam National University Clinical Vaccine Development Center) ▲Preclinical trials (GLP, KTR Healthcare Research Institute, KTR Alternative Animal Testing Center) ▲Clinical trials (GCP, Hwasun Chonnam National University Hospital) ▲Clinical sample and commercial production manufacturing facilities (GMP, National Microbial Validation Support Center, GC Green Cross, bio venture companies) ▲Talent cultivation (Chonnam National University Medical School).
It has succeeded in attracting projects such as the National Vaccine Safety Technology Support Center, National Immunotherapy Platform, Biohealth Convergence Knowledge Industry Center, and Immunocellular Therapy Industrialization Technology Platform, expanding the foundation for practical application support, clinical trials, and finished product production.
There is also a case of a startup founded in the Hwasun Vaccine Special Zone that became a KOSDAQ-listed company with a market capitalization of 1 trillion KRW.
These research and support institutions, about 30 bio companies including anchor company GC Green Cross, Chonnam National University Medical School, and Hwasun Chonnam National University Hospital form an industry-academia-research-hospital collaboration system, creating an optimal ecosystem to support startups, making it the best location for the K-Bio Lab Hub.
On the 22nd and 23rd, on-site evaluations for selecting the K-Bio Lab Hub candidate site will be conducted in Hwasun.
Governor Gu Chung-gon said, “Hwasun, which has the only vaccine industry special zone in the country and a bio-medical cluster supporting all stages from research and development to production, is the optimal site for the K-Bio Lab Hub. We will do our best to attract the K-Bio Lab Hub, which will be the foundation for Hwasun to take a step forward as the center of K-Bio.”
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