Korea's State-of-the-Art Bio Clusters: The Fast Track to Clinical Success

Korea is considered to be one of Asia’s top pharmaceutical-biotech markets, and it is currently the 10th largest market in the world. The Korean pharmaceutical market rose 6.4 percent to $14.4 billion in 2009, and is expected to grow faster than the overall GDP of Korea through 2011. In 2006, the Korean government invested $900 million into the biotech industry, and that figure has steadily increased over the past few years.

However, there is also an effort from Korean provincial and local entities to boost the competitiveness of the country’s pharmaceutical sector by investing resources into establishing biocluster zones containing hi-tech medical complexes within certain designated regions. These governments are keenly interested in forming strategic investment partnerships with foreign companies.

This session will feature remarks from representatives of the Daegu Metropolitan City and Chungbuk Province governments who will outline the opportunities available to interested investors within their individual regions, and provide insights into how US companies can enter into these very lucrative growth markets.

Opening Remarks:

Soon Young Hong
Regional Director General
KOTRA North America

Panelists:

Da Hee Jeong, Ph.D.
Executive Consultant, Invest KOREA
KOTRA

Jae Hwang Jeong , Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Department of Biomedicine, ChungBuk Provincial University

Dong Woo Kim
Deputy Director
Daegu High-tech Medical Cluster
 

Partnering with Korean Bio/Pharma Companies

Currently, more than 600 Korean pharmaceutical companies as well as numerous biotechnology companies are developing new drug candidates and technologies, and they are eagerly looking to form strategic licensing and technology transfer partnerships with all varieties of foreign companies.

With the ongoing expansion of domestic R&D facilities, strong financial support for new drug development, and highly qualified research manpower, the Korean pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry is well positioned for continued growth. 

This session will feature a discussion on a case study that resulted in a successful collaboration between a Korean and U.S. pharmaceutical company, along with a number of executives from participating Korean pharmaceutical companies who will describe the products and technologies that are available from them for licensing and technology transfer partnerships with overseas companies. 

Moderator:

Leyland Brenner
Market Research Manager, Strategic Business Diversity
KOTRA New York

Panelists:

Han Seong Bang
Vice President
Dasan Medichem Co., Ltd.

Alex Chang, Ph.D.
Director of Business Development
Samyang Research Corp.

Min Young Kim, Ph.D.
CEO
Angiolab, Inc.

Paul Kim
Vice President, Business Development
Viromed Co., Ltd.

Tae Hun Kim
Assistant Manager
Boryung Pharmaceutical, Ltd.

Woo-Sirl Lee, Ph.D.
Post-doc Researcher
Postech-Acornex

Ted Moon
Managing Director
Roberts Mitani Advisors, LLC

Hunwoo (Harry) Shin, Ph.D.
Associate Director, Business Development
SK Life Science Inc.

Sung-Eun Yoo, Ph.D.
Director
Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology (KRICT)