Multinational pharmaceutical companies are partnering with government agencies or pharmaceutical industry associations to bolster innovation in the Korean biotech sector.
These support programs aim to bridge the gap between research and market access, providing essential resources, mentorship, and funding to local biotech companies.
By nurturing these enterprises through critical stages of development, multinational pharmaceutical companies aim to help research translate into therapies.
Most recently, Amgen Korea and the Korea Health Industry Development Institute (KHIDI) said they started accepting online applications for their open innovation program, "2023 KHIDI-Amgen Science Academy: Pitching Day and Networking," until Aug. 21.
In March, Amgen and KHIDI signed a business agreement to expand their global open innovation collaboration in line with the Korean government's efforts to strengthen the competitiveness of the bio-health industry.
Through the event, the two organizations will provide technology pitching opportunities for domestic biotech companies and expand collaboration in various areas, including joint R&D, to drive shared growth between the selected Korean companies and Amgen.
This year's recruitment areas include technologies for discovering and developing innovative therapeutics in oncology, cardiovascular diseases, and inflammatory and autoimmune diseases.
Amgen and KHIDI will select eight companies among the applicants through a document evaluation process, and the selected companies will participate in a pitching competition and discussion session on Sep. 15.
The final winners, to be announced in November, will receive 80 million won cash ($63,400) in total. Also, the first and second-place winners will receive a one-year mentorship from Amgen's global business development (BD) and R&D departments.
Merck Life Science Korea also recently announced five winners – Biorchestra, Curigin, PharmAbcine, DeNovo Biotherapeutics, and Uppthera -- of its first Korea Advance Biotech Grant Program last Thursday.
The five companies advanced to the finals after being judged by M-Ventures, a venture capital firm within the Merck Group, and Merck's bioprocessing experts.
Biorchestra won the grand prize, the Merck Grand Award.
Biorchestra is a developer of brain-targeting drug delivery system platform and novel RNA drugs for neurodegenerative diseases.
The winning of the Merck Grand Award was based on its best-in-class brain penetration, which is differentiated from existing commercialized central nervous system drug delivery systems.
The five companies, including Biorchestra, will receive Merck's product development services under the criteria established for their respective awards.
Korea Innovative Medicines Consortium (KIMCo) also organized a collaboration event between Boehringer Ingelheim and Korean biotech companies last Friday.
Three Boehringer Ingelheim divisions participated in panel discussions and networking.
The event was participated by Director of Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund GmbH Frank Kalkbrenner, Head of Boehringer Ingelheim's Research Beyond Border Japan Tomoko Maeda, and Boehringer Ingelheim's Business Development and Licensing Manager Namiko Yamashita.
The three participants introduced their departments, areas of interest, and desired partnership areas.