A Glance at the Global Bio Innovation Status... Bio Korea 2024 Opens

Bio Korea 2024, jointly hosted by the Korea Health Industry Development Institute and Chungcheongbuk-do and sponsored by the Ministry of Health and Welfare, will be held for three days from the 8th to the 10th at COEX in Gangnam-gu, Seoul.

Starting in 2006 with about 300 companies from over 20 countries, Bio Korea, now in its 19th edition, has grown into Korea's representative biohealth international convention, with participation expanding more than twice this year to over 640 companies from 55 countries. This year’s theme, "The Future of Bio-Innovative Technologies and Global Cooperation," aims to share trends and prospects of innovative technologies gaining attention in the biohealth industry and provide business collaboration opportunities with global companies, institutions, researchers, and investors for successful development.

The event will feature various programs over three days, including business partnering, invest fairs, exhibitions, and conferences. In business partnering, global companies such as Eli Lilly, Takeda, MSD, Sanofi, Roche, Johnson & Johnson (J&J), along with leading domestic pharmaceutical and bio companies like SK Bioscience, GC Green Cross, Yuhan Corporation, and Hanmi Pharmaceutical, will participate to conduct one-on-one business meetings for discovering new partners with promising technologies, discussing technology cooperation and joint research, technology transfer, and investment.

Especially this year, reflecting the sharp increase in demand with 1,320 partnering sessions held last year, the partnering center will be expanded. With over 460 companies from 35 countries and more than 1,500 pre-arranged meetings, a vibrant business exchange platform is expected. A 24-hour online meeting system will also be operated to facilitate smooth meetings with overseas companies.

At the invest fair, operators of the K-Bio Mega Fund, which is being established with a scale of about 1 trillion KRW, and global investors will present on the future of Korea’s biohealth industry and its growth potential. Experts such as ▲Melinda Richter, Global Head of J&J Innovation (JJDC) ▲Ari Nowaczek, Partner at Arch Venture Partners ▲Cedric Bisson, Partner at Theralis Capital ▲Jiyan Luo, Director at Yuanta Asia Investment will deliver presentations and participate in panel discussions.

The exhibition will host 438 booths from 333 companies across 23 countries. Themed exhibition booths will be operated by categories such as biotech, artificial intelligence (AI) & digital health, advanced regenerative medicine, and national pavilions. In the biotech zone, visitors can meet companies specializing in cell therapy, new drug development, contract manufacturing (CMO) and contract development and manufacturing (CDMO), and clinical research organizations (CRO). The AI & digital health zone will showcase products that visitors can experience firsthand, including AI-based new drug development and analysis systems and wearable medical devices. Notably, this year’s national pavilion participation has expanded compared to last year, with 81 companies from 10 countries including Australia, Sweden, Denmark, the UK, the US, and Germany presenting promising technologies and engaging with interested domestic companies.

In the conference, 71 domestic and international biohealth experts from 9 countries will participate as speakers, covering 10 topics and 11 sessions such as next-generation drug platforms, diabetes and obesity treatments, cancer vaccines, and global open innovation. On the 9th, a special session titled ‘Next-Generation Drug Platform Development Strategies’ is scheduled. Speakers including Jean Cuerrou, Senior Vice President of WuXi Biologics, and Mikio Kasahara, Director of Business Development at Roche, will share strategies for success in developing emerging modality technologies such as antibody-drug conjugates (ADC), targeted protein degradation (TPD), and cell and gene therapies (CGT), as well as cases of global cooperation.

Additionally, in the international cooperation session, Tim Rowe, CEO of the Cambridge Innovation Center (CIC) located in the Boston area, the world’s largest bio cluster, will present on ‘Building Innovation Hubs for a Collaborative Future.’ In the microbiome session, Dr. Junseok Park from Harvard Medical School will share ‘Cases of Effective Anticancer Immunotherapy Development Using Gut Microbes and Startup Experiences of Microbiome-Based New Drug Development Companies,’ based on his publication in Nature.

Cha Sun-do, President of the Korea Health Industry Development Institute, stated, “Through Bio Korea, we hope it becomes a platform where domestic and international biohealth companies, institutions, and researchers can meet in one place to explore business strategies and cooperation methods,” adding, “We hope that Korea’s excellent technologies will expand globally through global partnerships.”