Celltrion to Expand Open Innovation Business Globally

Accelerating Customized R&D Support
for Promising Overseas Startups

Celltrion announced on the 1st that it has signed a business agreement with Seoul Bio Hub for the 'Global Open Innovation Program.'

On the 31st of last month, at the Seoul Bio Hub Global Center in Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul, Lee Soo-young, Head of New Drug Research at Celltrion (left), and Kim Hyun-woo, Director of Seoul Bio Hub Project Group, are posing for a commemorative photo at the signing ceremony of the 'Seoul Bio Hub-Celltrion Global Open Innovation Program.' Celltrion

This business agreement focuses on Celltrion and Seoul Bio Hub jointly selecting overseas bio and medical companies with innovative technologies and promoting technological cooperation through open innovation. The final selected companies will receive customized R&D mentoring, discussing research outcomes monitoring, global research trends, and research strategies with Celltrion's new drug research and development (R&D) department.

Seoul Bio Hub plans to support the activation of domestic business for the outstanding overseas bio and medical companies finally selected. To help stabilize the selected companies' entry into the domestic market, it will provide domestic bases and shared research equipment, as well as actively assist in expanding business networks. In particular, it plans to operate IR (Investor Relations) demo days linked with domestic and international accelerators (AC) and venture capitals (VC), enabling investment, promotion, and personnel matching.

The selection prioritizes companies that can create synergy in Celltrion's business and research areas, with key fields including ▲new antibody-based therapeutic technologies ▲small molecule technologies ▲drug delivery systems (DDS) ▲new modalities (therapeutic approaches). Celltrion and Seoul Bio Hub plan to screen 10 promising candidate companies through the first round of evaluation within this year and select 2 companies finally next year.

Celltrion intends to provide continuous and effective consulting and enhance competitiveness for promising startups through an active open innovation strategy.

Last year, Celltrion operated two open innovation programs with Seoul Bio Hub, selecting and supporting a total of six startups?three in the first cohort and three in the second. Notably, one of the selected companies was chosen as the winning company at the 'Kansai Life Science Accelerator Program (KLSAP)' held in Kobe, Japan, in September last year, based on Celltrion's consulting and support.

A Celltrion official stated, "Following domestic companies, we are actively expanding the open innovation program to overseas companies, contributing to the virtuous cycle and expansion of the domestic and international bio-industry ecosystem. We plan to continue exploring cooperation possibilities with promising companies, pipelines, and platform technologies to realize the value of mutual growth."