BMS Asia-Pacific VP: "Korea's Bio Industry Strong in Technology, Needs More Startup Capital"

At the 'Open Innovation Week' hosted by KHIDI on November 12
"AI is transforming drug design, simulation, and operations in clinical development"

"AI is transforming every aspect of the drug development process, from discovery to treatment. Incremental improvements that slightly increase the probability at each stage can accumulate, ultimately doubling the speed and productivity of drug development."

Steve Sugino, Vice President of Asia-Pacific at Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS), made these remarks during his keynote speech at the '2025 Biohealth Global Open Innovation Week,' hosted by the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Korea Health Industry Development Institute, held on November 12 at L Tower in Yangjae-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul.

Steve Sugino, Vice President of Asia-Pacific at Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS), is delivering the keynote speech at the '2025 Biohealth Global Open Innovation Week' hosted by the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Korea Health Industry Development Institute, held on the 12th at L Tower in Yangjae-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul. Photo by Jeong Donghoon

Vice President Sugino explained the impact of AI adoption, stating, "Even if we increase the technical success rate in the preclinical and Phase 1 clinical trial stages by just 5 to 6 percentage points, both the number and quality of the overall pipeline improve, while development costs and timelines are significantly reduced. Ultimately, this could result in a doubling of productivity across the entire industry."

He also predicted that as AI becomes more deeply embedded in the bio industry, innovation among smaller biotech companies will gain further momentum. "AI, which lowers market barriers, is not only important for large pharmaceutical companies but is an even greater opportunity for startups and biotech firms," he said. "The health of the healthcare ecosystem depends on a dynamic biotech sector."

He further emphasized, "Currently, more than half of BMS's pipeline comes from external innovation, such as collaborations and technology transfers. Partnerships are the core of our operations and the foundation that determines the vitality of the industry ecosystem."

BMS is currently managing more than 150 partnerships across research, clinical, and business development, and is holding numerous meetings with Korean companies. According to Vice President Sugino, the company prefers partners with deep insight and high-quality data in their respective fields. BMS previously signed a technology transfer agreement worth 180 million dollars (approximately 264.4 billion won) with the Korean biotech company Orum Therapeutics for a leukemia treatment candidate.

After the keynote, when asked by a reporter about the strengths and potential of Korea's bio industry from an open innovation perspective, Vice President Sugino responded, "Through meetings with many Korean biotech firms, as well as Seoul National University, Yonsei University, and Samsung Medical Center, I have confirmed that outstanding basic and clinical research capabilities have been accumulated." However, he also noted, "Compared to other markets, the base of venture capital funding is shallow, and 'entrepreneurial leadership'-the ability to commercialize technology and attract capital-is not yet robust." He likened the competitiveness of the bio industry to a cup filled with water: "The cup of science and technology is full, but the cups of capital and entrepreneurship need to be filled further. If appropriate regulatory and compensation systems are established, Korea's bio industry will achieve even greater results," he added.

At the event, following BMS, Martha Head, Deputy Director of the Digital Innovation Research Acceleration Center at Amgen, participated online and shared internal achievements, such as applying large language models (LLMs) to the design of proteins, antibodies, and small molecules, which halved the time required for antibody discovery and doubled engineering success rates.