Pohang City Launches Promotion Committee to Attract Bio Startup Support 'Lab Central'

LabCentral is an Open Innovation Institution Based on Collaborative Cooperation... Aiming to Attract Government Funding of 2000 Scale

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Choi Jae-ho] On the 6th, Pohang City launched the 'K-Bio LabCentral Attraction Promotion Committee' to discover bio innovation ventures and startups and to support their global expansion. At the event, the three co-chairmen were Lee Kang-deok, Mayor of Pohang, Kim Moo-hwan, President of POSTECH, and Jang Soon-heung, President of Handong University.

'LabCentral' is a bio startup support organization established in Boston, USA, in 2013. It provides experimental facilities and office spaces to venture and startup companies, and operates as a nonprofit open innovation institution based on a collaborative system with universities, pharmaceutical companies, and hospitals.

Following the announcement of the 'K-Bio LabCentral Establishment Plan' by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups in March, Pohang City expressed its intention to participate in attracting LabCentral, which involves a government budget of up to 200 billion KRW. With the launch of the promotion committee, Pohang has now officially begun efforts to attract LabCentral.

Through the formation of this promotion committee, Pohang City plans to consolidate its capabilities to attract K-Bio LabCentral, foster mutual information sharing and build cooperative networks, create a broad civic consensus, and devote full efforts to various support activities for attraction.

The launch ceremony of the promotion committee was attended by the three co-chairmen?Mayor Lee Kang-deok, POSTECH President Kim Moo-hwan, and Handong University President Jang Soon-heung?as well as Jeong Hae-jong, Chairman of Pohang City Council, Jang Sang-gil, Director of Gyeongsangbuk-do Science and Industry Bureau, and heads of medical and R&D institutions.

Mayor Lee Kang-deok of Pohang said, "Pohang has the optimal environment favorable for the growth and global expansion of bio venture companies, making it the best location to attract LabCentral." He added, "Attracting K-Bio LabCentral will be an opportunity to further solidify the bioindustry infrastructure, a new growth industry in the region, and serve as a stepping stone to leap forward as the East Sea Bio Cluster."

Meanwhile, the government (Ministry of SMEs and Startups) plans to finalize detailed project plans around April to May and select target regions through a public contest for the K-Bio LabCentral project. Approximately 100 to 200 billion KRW of government budget will be invested in this.

Pohang is equipped with a technology-based bio venture startup special zone within the Small and Medium Research and Development Special Zone and Pohang Convergence Technology Industrial District. It hosts over 40 technology-based bio companies such as BioApp and Aptamer Science, concentrated in the Bio Open Innovation Center (BOIC) and Pohang Technopark.

Additionally, Pohang boasts world-class research personnel supported by cutting-edge research equipment such as 3rd and 4th generation synchrotron radiation accelerators and cryo-electron microscopes, as well as R&D facilities including POSTECH Biotechnology Research Center, Artificial Intelligence Institute, and Handong University Life Science Research Institute, making it an optimal site for establishing LabCentral.

Notably, last year, through a business agreement with Hanmi Science, a collaboration system with a major pharmaceutical company was established. This year, venture resident facilities such as the Knowledge Industry Center, Membrane Protein Research Institute, Change Up Ground, and Green Vaccine Demonstration Support Center are also scheduled to open sequentially.

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