Oh Young-joo, Minister of SMEs and Startups, "Communicating to Create an Innovative Bio Venture Ecosystem"

Meeting Held with Universities, Venture Companies, Venture Capital, Pharmaceutical Companies, and Associations

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced that Minister Oh Young-joo visited a company site at Omnibus Park in Seoul Catholic Hospital on the 25th to assess the current status of the domestic bio ecosystem with bio experts and discuss improvement measures.

Minister Oh Young-joo of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups visited Upsell, located in Omnibus Park, Seocho-gu, Seoul, on the 25th, and toured the company site with Joo Ji-hyun, CEO of Upsell. Photo by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups

This meeting was organized for Minister Oh to diagnose the overall ecosystem status and seek improvement measures with innovation stakeholders to foster bio ventures. At the meeting, Heo Kyung-hwa, CEO of the Korea Innovative Pharmaceuticals Consortium, assessed the domestic bio ecosystem, followed by a voluntary discussion among participants on innovation in the pharmaceutical sector and the future growth of K-Bio. The opinions presented that day will be reflected in the Ministry of SMEs and Startups’ upcoming plan for ‘Bio Venture Innovation Ecosystem Development’ (tentative name).

Before the meeting, Minister Oh visited the bio venture ‘Ipsel’ located within Catholic Hospital, touring the laboratory and cell storage facilities. Ipsel is a company selected by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups as a super-gap startup, receiving overseas demonstration support from the Chungbuk Advanced Regenerative Bio Global Innovation Zone, and plans to conduct clinical trials in Japan next year.

Minister Oh stated, “In the changing global market environment and international relations, organic cooperation between the public and private sectors is more important than anything else for the innovation and fostering of bio ventures,” adding, “The Ministry of SMEs and Startups will continue to communicate with the field to create an innovative bio venture ecosystem.”