To Be Held at COEX from May 7 to 9
Joint Exhibition Hall and Collaboration Workshops to Be Featured
'Bio Korea 2025,' an event designed to share the latest trends and information in the bio·health industry and create new business opportunities between domestic and international companies, will be held. At this event, 24 leading-edge bio startups supported by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups will also participate to lay the groundwork for global expansion.
The Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced on May 6 that the 'BIO KOREA 2025 International Convention' (Bio Korea) will take place at COEX in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, from May 7 to 9. Bio Korea is Korea's leading international convention in the bio·health sector, facilitating technology exchange, exhibitions, networking, and business partnering between global bio companies and investors. The event is hosted by the Korea Health Industry Development Institute and Chungcheongbuk-do, with participation from more than 200 domestic and international bio companies, including Johnson & Johnson and Pfizer.
In particular, this year's event will feature 24 leading-edge bio startups with top-tier technology in Korea, such as Preclina in the pharmaceuticals·materials sector and Cellames in the medical device sector, attracting attention from global pharmaceutical companies and domestic and international investment institutions.
The 'Leading-Edge Startup 1000+ Project' is a program in which the Ministry of SMEs and Startups selects startups with technology in ten leading-edge fields, including bio·health, that will drive the future of the national economy, and provides concentrated policy support to help them establish a foundation for global expansion.
Since 2023, the Ministry has directly supported 118 leading-edge bio·health startups selected through this project with up to 600 million won in technology commercialization funding over three years, up to 500 million won in research and development (R&D) funding over two years, and 1 billion won in scale-up funding over two years. Additional support is provided through policy funds, guarantees, and export vouchers to foster their growth.
The leading-edge bio startups participating in this Bio Korea will take part in a variety of side events, including a joint leading-edge exhibition hall, a Korea-Saudi Arabia collaboration workshop, a Korea-Australia clinical seminar, an alternative testing commercialization technology conference, and an Invest Fair IR session.
First, the joint exhibition hall, which will run from May 7 to 9, will showcase prototypes and research achievements from innovative leading-edge bio·health startups, including mRNA-based vaccines, stem cell-based cell therapies, and artificial intelligence (AI)-based new drug candidate development.
The Korea-Saudi Arabia collaboration workshop, to be held on May 7, will be attended by more than 150 people, including officials from the Saudi Ministry of Investment, major local pharmaceutical companies, and executives and employees from promising Korean bio startups. At the request of the Saudi Ministry of Investment, the workshop will actively discuss collaboration opportunities such as technology transfer, investment attraction, and local market entry with leading-edge startups possessing manufacturing, plant, and production capabilities for biopharmaceuticals and biosimilars.
At the Korea-Australia clinical seminar on May 8, Australian clinical research organizations will introduce their clinical trial capabilities to eight leading-edge startups and other promising Korean bio startups. The seminar will provide consultations on clinical strategies for entering the Australian market, including R&D tax incentives, and facilitate company-specific partnerships with contract research organizations (CROs) and contract development and manufacturing organizations (CDMOs).
Lim Jungwook, Director-General for Startup and Venture Innovation, said, "With the recent expansion of external uncertainties such as supply chain restructuring and tariffs resulting from U.S. protectionism, it is time for the government and companies to work together to strategically pursue global expansion. The Ministry of SMEs and Startups will continue to support the advancement of bio technology through convergence with other new industries such as AI, and will actively promote global collaboration with overseas institutions, companies, and venture capital (VC) to support the global scale-up of startups in the bio·health sector."
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