Seoul Seeks To Expand Biomedical Fund With MOUs Signed With U.S. States Massachusetts And Maryland
This article was originally published in PharmAsia News
Executive Summary
SEOUL - The Seoul Metropolitan Government is pushing to expand its KRW 100 billion ($92.2 million) biomedical fund, established last year by the Boston venture capital firm Oxford Bioscience Partners and Korea's Hanwha Venture Capital to boost Korea's life sciences industries
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SEOUL - The Seoul Metropolitan Government is pushing to expand its KRW 100 billion ($92.2 million) biomedical fund, established last year by the Boston venture capital firm Oxford Bioscience Partners and Korea's Hanwha Venture Capital to boost Korea's life sciences industries. The fund looks to draw local and foreign biotech companies to Seoul's Magok Industrial District. Oxford Managing General Partner Jonathan Fleming discussed the fund during the U.S.-Korea Pharma CEO Forum in New York in November. Fleming told attendees that "Korea represents an especially attractive area for people who invest in innovation based upon intellectual property in the life sciences" (Also see "As Korea Pharmas Look To U.S., U.S. VC Looks To Korea" - Scrip, 17 Nov, 2010.). The Seoul government hopes to expand the fund to KRW 200 billion ($184.4 million) by 2014 via agreements with U.S. states to invest in Seoul. Seoul City Mayor Oh Se-hoon signed two memorandums of understanding - one with Massachusetts and the other with Maryland - when he visited the U.S. earlier this month. The MOU with Massachusetts was signed when Oh met with Governor Deval Patrick in Patrick's office April 19, a Seoul City spokesman told PharmAsia News. The agreement will aim to create more jobs in the life sciences and biotech sectors and establish points of contact between Seoul and Massachusetts R&D centers. Under the agreement, the two governments will develop joint vocational training and education initiatives to expand trade and biotech investment. Mayor Oh also signed a similar MOU April 21 with Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley to link Maryland's biocluster and Seoul City's Magok Industrial District, officials said. Magok, West of Seoul, is near Gimpo International Airport. During the signing ceremony, O'Malley announced he also plans to visit Korea and several Pacific Rim countries on a trade mission next month. Home to U.S. FDA and the National Institutes of Health - and several well-known biotechs like MedImmune and Human Genome Sciences - Maryland ranks among the top five bioclusters in the U.S. Korea is also hoping to draw investment into the country through medical tourism, and is targeting its Asian neighbors in an attempt to top Thailand, India and Singapore, which have been popular hubs for medical tourism (Also see "Korea's Medical Tourism Push Can Benefit Korean And Global Pharma - Medical Korea 2011" - Scrip, 19 Apr, 2011.). Korea Health Industry Development Institute President Kim Bup-wan told local media the organization will also sign a memorandum of understanding with health insurance firm Cigna International to help establish Korea as an attractive medical tourism destination (Also see "Korea Expects MOU with Cigna To Attract More Medical Tourism Patients, Possibly From China - Medical Korea 2011 Conference" - Scrip, 13 Apr, 2011.). Korea also recently signed an MOU with the United Arab Emirates to bring patients to Korea for medical treatments not available in UAE (Also see "Korea Signs Healthcare MOU With UAE; Seeks Out More Global Partners To Draw Medical Tourism To Korea" - Scrip, 17 Mar, 2011.). - Peter Chang ([email protected]) |