Yangsan-si Challenges to Become a 'K-Bio' Hub by Leveraging Location Advantages of Comprehensive Medical Cluster

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Lee Sang-hyun] Gyeongnam Province and Yangsan City announced on the 27th that they have applied for the site at Pusan National University Yangsan Campus in response to the call for candidates for the ‘K-Bio Lab Hub Construction Project’ organized by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups.

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced the public recruitment for the selection of the ‘K-Bio Lab Hub’ candidate site on the 12th. The national funding scale is approximately 250 billion KRW, and applications from local governments wishing to establish the hub will be accepted until June 14, with one candidate site to be finalized in July.

This construction project is benchmarked after ‘LabCentral,’ a support institution for bio startups in Boston. It is an infrastructure construction project designed to comprehensively support startup companies in new drug development within one space, providing residency, specialized facilities and equipment, and industry-academia-research-hospital cooperation programs, enabling activities from experimentation and research to clinical trials and prototype production.

Yangsan City has excellent educational infrastructure centered on Pusan National University Yangsan Campus, which includes the College of Medicine, Dentistry, and Information Biomedical Engineering, as well as comprehensive medical infrastructure prepared with Yangsan Pusan National University Hospital and the planned Infectious Disease Specialized Hospital.

Additionally, its greatest strength lies in establishing a comprehensive medical cluster with advanced medical research and development institutions such as the Gene Cell Therapy Research Center, the Biomedical R&D Center, and the Translational Clinical Trial Support Center. As a supporting space, Gasan General Industrial Complex, Gyeongnam’s first biomedical specialized industrial complex, is also being developed.

Along with this, the location holds locational advantages expected to maximize the effect of establishing the K-Bio Lab Hub, as it is at the center of the Southeast Mega City area, near the Gimhae Small and Medium Research and Development Special Zone, Miryang National Nano Industrial Complex, the medical tourism industry in the Busan area, and the Genome Industry Regulatory Free Zone in the Ulsan area.

Kim Il-kwon, Mayor of Yangsan City, said, “There is a comprehensive medical cluster established near the project site, including schools, hospitals, and research institutes, and the geographical advantage of being at the center of the Southeast region is clear, so we will make every effort to attract the K-Bio Lab Hub to Yangsan.”

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