Korea Eyes New Consortium To Support Innovation, Nurture Biotech Hubs
Executive Summary
South Korea moves to support open innovation in the pharma and biotech industries, and to raise global competitiveness of biotech clusters in the country, in an effort to catch up with major overseas bio hubs such as the Boston Biotech Cluster.
While South Korean biotech and pharma companies are more actively pursuing open innovation to raise efficiency in R&D and business development, the country's government is also stepping up its support for this approach by forming the Healthcare Open Innovation Committee (HOIC), which aims to beef up communication and collaboration among various existing bioclusters, companies, medical facilities and investors.
The new committee will comprise 63 organizations including 16 bioclusters in the country, healthcare industry associations, hospitals, clinical trial support centers, and state-run new drug development projects, as well as venture capital firms, said the Ministry of Health and Welfare in unveiling the initiative.
The move comes amid steps by the biotech/pharma industry to quicken steps to seek various open innovation approaches to boost their pipelines; although there are already more than a dozen bioclusters in the country, they are viewed as small and dispersed compared to major areas overseas such as Boston.
Overlapping project goals set by multiple government ministries as they sought similar projects, as well as a lack of timely investment and appropriate strategies, have so far complicated efforts to take basic research through to commercialization.
Improved Cooperation/Coordination
The government says its aim is to set up a system that will enable regional bioclusters to better connect and cooperate, to strengthen their advantages and address weaknesses so that they can reach a critical size and become globally competitive to lead industry growth.
To support all stages of the business cycle, the committee aims to provide information both online and offline to the industry about bioclusters' facilities, equipment and key research workforce capabilities. The hope is to connect with and encourage companies to move into clusters with the help of business support programs, such as advice on patent strategy, commercialization consulting, expert mentoring, and technology evaluation.
While serving as a forum for communication and cooperation, it will also communicate back to the government any difficulties on the ground and ideas for regulatory improvement.
Health and Welfare Minister Neunghoo Park said he expects the committee to help create a system in which companies located in bioclusters can use common infrastructure such as facilities and equipment, adding that the ministry will strongly support the body to create a "virtuous cycle" and healthcare ecosystem where R&D outcomes can lead to the creation and growth of innovative firms, resulting in job creation.
Major Bio Clusters In Korea
According to the Korea Biotechnology Industry Organization, the South Korean government first began to form bioclusters in 2009, starting with the Osong High-Tech Medical Complex in Chungcheongbuk-do Province, where six major government policy institutions - including the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, National Institute of Food and Drug Safety Evaluation, and the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - as well as research support facilities and manufacturing facilities, are located.
The Songdo Bio Cluster in Incheon is home to major biopharma and biosimilar firms such as Celltrion, Samsung BioLogics and Samsung Bioepis, as well as some global healthcare companies; both Merck KGaA's M Lab Collaboration Center and GE Healthcare's APAC Fast Tracker Center are located there.
Given the numerous contract manufacturers in Songdo, the site has the largest workforce among Korean bioclusters, with particular expertise in production.
Among other sites, Pangyo Techno Valley near Seoul is a convergence hub for biotech and bioventure companies as well as venture capital and ICT companies. Given the numerous bioventures here, the area has the largest number of pipeline drugs in any cluster.
Daedeok Innopolis in Daejeon is seen as a top research area and home to national R&D institutes such as the Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science, and education organizations such as KAIST, a science and technology university. Sanofi's Korean R&D center is also located there.
From the editors of PharmAsia News.