Boryung Pharmaceutical said it would open the first Care In Space (CIS) Challenge, a global competition event to find technologies and solutions for human health in space.

Boryung leads the CIS challenge in collaboration with Axiom Space, an American human spaceflight services provider, and Starbust, a global aerospace startup accelerator.

“As the era of space travel began recently, human activities are expected to get livelier in gravity-free space. Therefore, to preemptively respond to potential changes in human health in outer space, we have been preparing for the CIS project since 2020,” Boryung said.

The CIS Challenge is part of the CIS project. Boryung said the challenge aimed to gather aerospace healthcare startups and those with creative ideas eager to find solutions to address various potential healthcare issues in space.

Boryung will receive global participants’ applications and screen their ideas for the next three months.

On July 28, a Pitch Day event will have selected applicants showcase their ideas at the UCLA Conference Hall. Then, on Demo Day in December, selected teams will have an opportunity to explain their ideas and solutions to investors worldwide.

During the challenge period, experts from aerospace companies in the U.S. and Israel and major universities such as Stanford, Harvard, MIT, and Georgia Tech will verify ideas and provide tailored mentoring for business development.

Details about the CIS challenge are available at cischallenge.com or Boryung’s website.

Lim Dong-joo, head of the New Portfolio Investment Team at Boryung’s Global Investment Center, said the company would hold the CIS challenge annually to lead responses to healthcare issues in space.

“We will discover new investment opportunities and establish ourselves as a must-have global partner in aerospace medicine,” he said.