Incheon-Hosted 'K-Bio Lab Hub' Selected as Preliminary Feasibility Study Project

Total Project Cost of 540 Billion Won Invested... Infrastructure to Support and Foster Bio Ventures and Startups

Incheon Mayor Park Nam-chun (center) is taking a commemorative photo with participants after the 'Industry-Academia-Research-Hospital Round Table for Cooperation to Attract the K-Bio Lab Hub' held at Songdo G Tower. June 7, 2021. Photo by Incheon City.

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Hyesook] The 'K-Bio Lab Hub' project, to be established in Incheon to support and nurture startups in the biotechnology (bio) sector, has secured momentum for promotion.

Incheon City announced on the 27th that the K-Bio Lab Hub project, jointly promoted with the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, has been selected as a project subject to a preliminary feasibility study.

Accordingly, after about seven months of formal preliminary feasibility review, the results are expected to be announced around August this year. If the project promotion is decided, procedures such as budget allocation will follow, with construction starting next year and full operation beginning in 2026.

The K-Bio Lab Hub, with a total project cost of 540 billion KRW including 332.4 billion KRW of national funding, is a project to establish specialized support infrastructure for startups in the biotechnology field, such as new drug development, by fostering bio startup companies. It is benchmarked after 'LabCentral,' a bio startup support institution in Boston, USA, famous for producing the global pharmaceutical company 'Moderna.'

The Lab Hub, to be established at Yonsei University’s Songdo International Campus, will be equipped with a comprehensive support system in one space, including bio startup company office space, facilities and equipment necessary for experiments, research, clinical trials, and prototype production, as well as industry-academia-research-hospital collaboration.

In September last year, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups evaluated candidate sites for the K-Bio Lab Hub construction project targeting five local governments including Incheon, Gyeongnam, Daejeon, Chungbuk, and Jeonnam, and selected Incheon as the optimal location.

Songdo, Incheon, where the K-Bio Lab Hub will be located, is evaluated as suitable for the K-Bio Lab Hub due to its industry-academia-research-hospital collaboration network, including Korea’s representative bio anchor companies such as Samsung Biologics and Celltrion, and Songdo Severance Hospital (scheduled to open in 2026).

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups plans to operate the K-Bio Lab Hub not only in Incheon but also as a space where bio startups and institutions nationwide can collaborate on research, aiming to make it a cradle for producing 'bio unicorns.'

An official from Incheon City stated, "Since the K-Bio Lab Hub, which will be the first government-funded project in the Songdo bio cluster that has developed organically so far, is being established, we expect to systematically nurture and support future bio ventures and startups."