Daejeon City Selected as 'National Advanced Strategic Industry Bio-Specialized Complex'

Shindong·Dunggok, DTV, Taprip·Jeonmin, Wonnchon Districts: 8.91 Million㎡ Area
Expected to Become a Global Cluster for Innovative New Drugs

Status of Designation of National Advanced Strategic Industry Specialized Complexes in the Bio Sector / Daejeon City

Daejeon City announced that it has been finally selected as a national advanced strategic industry bio-specialized complex by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

The industrial complexes designated as specialized complexes total 4 complexes covering 8.91 million square meters (approximately 2.7 million pyeong). Sindong-Dungok and Daedeok Technovalley have already been established, and two new complexes, Taprip-Jeonmin and Wonchon Advanced Biomedical District, will be newly developed. Among these, the Wonchon district was also designated as an Opportunity Development Zone on the 20th, which is expected to boost corporate attraction.

The national advanced strategic industry specialized complexes receive government-level support such as industrial complex infrastructure support, mandatory expedited processing of permits, special cases for fees and charges, tax credits, up to 1.4 times increase in floor area ratio, export market development, priority allocation of government R&D budgets, and special cases for preliminary feasibility studies.

Since the city possesses world-class technological capabilities in the four major therapeutic areas (protein, gene, cell, and regenerative therapies), it has presented a goal to the government to create two innovative new drugs by 2032 through focused industrial development. Companies such as Ligakem Bioscience, Alteogen, and Merck, among 51 companies, have expressed their intention to invest approximately 9 trillion KRW in facilities and research and development.

The four district specialized complexes are expected to concentrate innovative resources such as infrastructure, workforce, companies, and R&D. In addition to the ‘Daejeon Bio Startup Center’ and the ‘Innovative Digital Medical Science Institute,’ anchor facilities such as the ‘Daejeon Innovative New Drug Strategic Support Operation Center’ and the ‘KAIST-Merck Joint New Drug R&D Laboratory’ are expected to be established.

The city plans to establish an operational system for the specialized complexes by forming a specialized complex promotion team led by the Deputy Mayor for Economic Science and setting up a specialized complex operation committee involving industry, academia, research institutes, and hospitals as an advisory and deliberative body.

Furthermore, based on the Daejeon Innovative New Drug Specialized Complex, the plan is to complete the national bio-pharmaceutical value chain and strengthen the national competitiveness of advanced strategic industries, contributing to balanced national development.

Jang Ho-jong, Deputy Mayor for Economic Science of Daejeon City, said, “This selection as a specialized complex is a model case of collaboration among Daejeon City, KAIST, and Daejeon Technopark’s Strategic Business Research Center,” adding, “The designation of this specialized complex is expected to generate a production inducement effect of 6.5586 trillion KRW and an employment inducement effect of 41,572 jobs.”