Seoul City Collaborates with Celltrion and Daewon Pharmaceutical to Discover Startups and Support Overseas Expansion

Seoul Bio Hub Collaborates with Global Center Companies for Open Innovation
Supports Domestic Startup Bio Companies with Consulting and Investment
Strengthens Customized Support with Celltrion, Daewon Pharmaceutical, and Others... "A Win-Win for All"

Seoul City announced on the 13th that it will conduct open innovation in collaboration with Celltrion and Daewon Pharmaceutical, leading domestic pharmaceutical companies. The main goal is to identify companies with innovative technologies among the resident companies of 'Seoul Bio Hub,' the control tower of bio startup infrastructure, and support their entry into overseas markets.

Seoul Bio Hub is the control tower of Seoul's bio startup infrastructure. Starting with the operation of the Industry Support Building in 2017, followed by the Research Laboratory Building and the Regional Open Building, it opened the Global Center, a global expansion base, last April. Seoul City plans to provide systematic company diagnosis and customized solutions through professional accelerator connections for startups selected for this open innovation. It will also support overseas market entry through joint research and technology commercialization consulting by a pool of experts, overseas market validation and development, and market expansion.

Celltrion and Daewon Pharmaceutical, participating in this open innovation, are representative partner companies of the 'Seoul Bio Hub Global Center.' First, Celltrion plans to select up to four domestic bio startups established within the last eight years that can collaborate on new business, research, and technology demands. The demand technologies include ▲antibodies ▲peptides ▲small molecules ▲formulations ▲cell and gene therapies ▲drug delivery systems ▲new drug development platforms ▲bioinformatics ▲microbiome fields.

In December last year, Celltrion announced a recruitment of a total of 31 companies to participate in open innovation together with Seoul Bio Hub. Celltrion is a leading bio anchor company in Korea and the first private partner company of the Seoul Bio Hub Global Center. In November, Seoul Bio Hub and Korea University Industry-Academic Cooperation Foundation signed a business agreement with Celltrion to promote cooperative projects supporting startups.

Currently, among the 16 companies that passed the first document screening, three companies (Medimap Bio, S&K Therapeutics, Enterobiome) have been selected and supported. Due to increasing expectations for the effectiveness of collaboration with bio startups, a second recruitment is underway. After document and face-to-face evaluations of the applicants, up to four companies will be selected and announced in August, and the acceleration and Celltrion support programs will run until the end of November this year. Celltrion plans to provide priority residency rights at Seoul Bio Hub, expert consulting, expert advice through the global bio cluster, and networking opportunities with local company investors.

Daewon Pharmaceutical is also recruiting domestic bio startups established within the last eight years that can collaborate on demand technologies and plans to select and support about two companies. The demand technologies include ▲peptides ▲small molecules ▲drug delivery technologies ▲drug delivery technologies via devices ▲others (digital therapeutics (DTx), electronic medicine). After document and face-to-face evaluations, the final announcement will be made on July 31, and the acceleration and Daewon Pharmaceutical support programs will run until the end of November this year.

Daewon Pharmaceutical, a leading domestic pharmaceutical company established in 1958, has focused on developing respiratory, circulatory, digestive, endocrine systems, antibiotics, and chemotherapy agents, following the creation of Korea's 12th domestic new drug, Feluvey, based on outstanding R&D capabilities. Based on the know-how and network accumulated through new drug development, Daewon Pharmaceutical provides practical assistance to bio pharmaceutical startups in the early stages of product development by reviewing product marketability and providing improvement feedback. Selected companies can also participate in the 'Daewon Pharmaceutical Theham Program,' which supports prototype production to realize innovative ideas as actual pharmaceuticals.

Lee Hae-woo, Director of Seoul City's Economic Policy Office, said, "Through cooperation with Celltrion and Daewon Pharmaceutical, partner institutions of Seoul Bio Hub, large and medium-sized enterprises will discover innovative technologies in needed fields, and startups will advance their technologies through technology transfer and joint research." He added, "We will establish a mutually beneficial, win-win open innovation model that can also accelerate market entry."