[Opinion] Laboratory Startups and Challenges for Overcoming COVID-19

Since the outbreak of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), 'laboratory startups' have once again attracted attention as a key driver of economic growth. Laboratory startups refer to ventures founded by utilizing research facilities at universities and public research institutions.

Startup items based on laboratory technology are not easily replicated, and the human networks of highly skilled scientists who possess the technology are also excellent, making the likelihood of success quite high. Professors and researchers with technological capabilities and potential are more likely to develop innovative products and services, which can lead to the advancement of industrial structures and contribute to the creation of high-quality jobs.

To promote laboratory startups, the government amended the Special Measures Act on Fostering Venture Businesses (Venture Business Act) in 1998 to allow academic researchers to concurrently hold positions as executives in venture companies and to establish incubating organizations within universities and research institutions, thereby creating infrastructure for technology startups. In 2006, the Technology Transfer and Commercialization Promotion Act was amended to encourage the transfer of technologies developed at universities and public research institutions to the private sector and to promote commercialization through technology startups.

However, compared to these government efforts, the results have been insufficient. Simply looking at the number of commercialization cases, in 2017, universities and public research institutes succeeded in commercializing 10,781 cases of government R&D projects, and their share of total commercialization cases (32,970 cases), including private R&D, was only 32.7%. University commercialization performance (8,059 cases, 24.4%) was the highest, followed by national and public research institutes (1,866 cases, 5.7%) and government-funded research institutes (856 cases, 2.6%).

Recently, efforts led by the Ministry of Education to increase laboratory startups by faculty members have also been underway, but they have not received much attention. In 2016, faculty laboratory startups totaled 195 cases across 418 universities, including Korea Polytechnic University, averaging less than 0.5 cases per university. However, notable success stories include 'ViroMed (now Helixmith),' founded in 1996 by Professor Kim Sun-young of Seoul National University, and 'i-SENS,' founded in 2000 by Professor Cha Geun-sik of Kwangwoon University.

The global economy is rapidly freezing due to COVID-19. Some experts predict that it will take considerable time to recover to last year's economic level. During such difficult times, startups can serve as an economic catalyst. In particular, laboratory startups, equipped with advanced technology, potential, and human networks, can be the most reliable alternative to overcome the crisis of low growth and employment cliffs. If the current government’s support for laboratory startups is supplemented with several institutional improvements, the spread of laboratory startups could outpace the virus.

First, institutional improvements are needed to address issues such as work gaps and neglect of student guidance caused by faculty members’ startup activities. According to laws and regulations such as the Venture Business Act, faculty members can freely engage in startup activities during their leave or concurrent employment periods. However, few universities have codified regulations to address various problems such as work gaps caused by this. Regulations related to faculty startups at each university need to be improved.

A dedicated department or management system within universities must also be established. Specialized personnel are needed to oversee the entire business cycle from discovering research-based technology startups with great potential and possibilities to founding and exiting. Currently, university startup support groups handle this, but they suffer from budget shortages and insufficient cooperation with related departments within the university.

The management system of government ministries related to faculty startups and academic startups, currently divided between the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, should be unified. This would enable consistent and continuous support and supervision. Especially as collaboration among the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Science and ICT, and the Ministry of SMEs and Startups is increasing to promote laboratory startups led by faculty members, efficient management and supervision must be ensured.

Finally, institutional backing that can dramatically support laboratory startups is crucial. Since laboratory startups commercialize technologies that have reached a certain level of research and development, their funding needs are greater than those of general research and development. Therefore, more proactive support, departing from the existing commercialization support paradigm, should be provided. / Kim Kyunghwan, Professor, Graduate School of Global Entrepreneurship, Sungkyunkwan University

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.