Six New Lead Organizations Selected for the 'K-BioHealth Regional Center Support Project'

Fostering and Supporting Startups Through Regional Hub-Type Biohealth Clusters
Six New Lead Institutions Selected for the K-BioHealth Regional Center Support Project
Establishing Collaborative Systems with Hospitals to Accelerate Commercialization

The Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Korea Health Industry Development Institute announced on the 15th that they have newly selected six organizations to lead the 'K-BioHealth Regional Center Support Project' aimed at fostering regional hub-type biohealth clusters and establishing a startup support platform linked with hospitals.

The six selected organizations are the Gimhae Life Science Industry Promotion Agency, Daejeon Technopark, Wonju Medical Device Techno Valley, Jeonnam Bio Promotion Agency, Jeonbuk Special Self-Governing Province Economic and Trade Promotion Agency, and Chungbuk Bio Industry-Academia Convergence Center.

The K-BioHealth Regional Center Support Project has been implemented since 2022 to connect biohealth clusters scattered nationwide, develop them into regional hub-type clusters, and support the growth of biohealth startup companies within the regions.

Over the past three years, 574 biohealth startup companies have utilized the facilities and equipment of the clusters and conducted clinical trials and regulatory approval support in connection with hospitals. The Ministry of Health and Welfare explained that the project has played a crucial role in solving issues such as equipment utilization and lack of research space faced by early-stage startups and contributed to increasing commercialization potential through support for clinical validation infrastructure.

Starting this year, biohealth cluster operating organizations will serve as the lead institutions for the support project to foster regional hub-type clusters and establish inter-regional linkage and cooperation systems.

The six newly selected lead institutions will function as representative regional hub-type clusters and will play a role in nurturing and supporting biohealth startup companies within their regions. Additionally, hospitals in each region will participate in the support project to provide medical big data, testing, and analysis to startups, thereby supporting commercialization.

Jung Eun-young, Director of the Health Industry Policy Bureau at the Ministry of Health and Welfare, stated, "Due to the nature of the biohealth industry, establishing a collaborative system centered on clusters is important," adding, "We will support the development of hub clusters and, through linkage with hospitals, help startups enter the market more quickly and enhance their competitiveness."