Korean pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, including Lotte Biologics and ST Pharm, will search for opportunities to tie up with their French counterparts in the largest U.S. biotech industry fair next week.

Business France, a national agency to promote the international growth of the French economy, said Thursday that it would open the “French Healthcare” pavilion at the BIO International Convention 2023, to be held in Boston, Mass., from June 5 to 8.

More than 2,600 French businesses and public agencies in biotechnology, medical technology, and the e-health area will present themselves at the pavilion. Among them are startups, giant pharma companies, industry clusters, research institutes, and hospitals, including world-renowned names such as Institut Pasteur, known for its disease and vaccine research, and Gustave Roussy, the best cancer research hospital in Europe.

Newly emerging French companies will also take part in the event. They are Iktos, which makes the most of artificial intelligence in medicine, chemical, and new drug areas; OSE Immunotherapeutics, which developed a therapeutic vaccine composed of nine cancer antigen fragments to enable T-cells to attack cancer cells; Aqemia, which uses AI to identify drug-ready molecules in immune-oncology; and Whitelab Genomics, which developed DNA and RNA therapeutics using deep learning algorithms.

Besides, Business France will organize a series of events to showcase French exhibitors and partners and facilitate networking opportunities between international investors and companies. For instance, it will organize Boston-Paris Biotech Summit under the joint sponsorship of partners Shahin Gharakhanian and Soheila Gharakhanian from 12:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday (local time).

Korea BIO and Business France will also jointly hold a networking event for Korean and French delegates. On Tuesday, the second day of the show, from 9:00 to 10:00 a.m., major Korean companies, including Lotte Biologics and ST Pharm, and Korean and French startups, will be present to exchange insights and explore potential partnerships.

On the same day, the French Healthcare pavilion will host four workshops featuring key panelists, including representatives from giant pharma and life sciences companies, such as Johnson & Johnson, Bayer, Ipsen, Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Merck, and Flagship Pioneering, as well as investors.

At 2 p.m. on Wednesday, there will be a one-hour session with the theme of "French health-tech startups, what's next in biotech?" featuring startups, including ImCheck Therapeutics, Inotrem, Aqemia, Whitelabs genomics, Pherecydes Pharma, Smart-immune, Steminov, and many more.

"The French delegation in BIO 2023 includes many world-renowned companies to expand opportunities for international cooperation,” said Jerome Revole, director for healthcare and life science at Business France’s North American office. “The events organized by Business France will provide an opportunity to discover innovative solutions born in France and a place to collaborate on future solutions to the challenges facing the bio sector."