Seoul City Partners with Global 5th Largest Pharma Company BMS to Foster Innovative Pharma-Bio Enterprises Together

Seoul City-BMS-Korea Health Industry Development Institute Sign Joint Letter of Intent to Support Domestic Bio/Medical Industry
BMS Office Established at Hongneung Seoul Bio Hub → Building Networking with Startups, Expanding Technology Exchange Opportunities

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced on the 13th that it has signed a bio-medical industry development agreement (joint letter of intent) with BMS (Korea BMS Pharmaceutical), the world's 5th largest pharmaceutical company, and the Korea Health Industry Development Institute, a public institution in the health and medical sector, and will promote joint cooperation projects.

Through this agreement, Seoul will ▲discover and nurture innovative companies through challenge operations, ▲provide global networking opportunities through regular technology exchanges such as seminars, ▲and establish a BMS partnering office within the Hongneung Bio Hub for continuous exchange and cooperation with global companies (supporting consultation and nurturing of innovative companies).

First, Seoul and BMS will jointly select innovative companies to support research and development funding, provide one-on-one coaching utilizing BMS's excellent professionals, and support the formation of international networks for overseas market entry. Innovative companies will be selected through a public contest from startups or prospective entrepreneurs based in Seoul who possess promising technologies in pharmaceutical fields such as oncology, hematology, and immunology. Selected companies will be supported to commercialize promising technologies through a professional coaching program by the BMS Open Innovation team and will be assisted in entering overseas markets by strengthening global networking and communication capabilities.

Next, to strengthen domestic bio-medical workforce capabilities and global networks, Seoul, BMS, and the Korea Health Industry Development Institute plan to jointly operate regular scientific and technological exchange programs such as seminars annually. By operating technology exchange programs including international symposiums and seminars, they aim to enhance the international competitiveness of domestic companies and support corporate growth through expanding overseas business opportunities such as global networking and investment attraction.

To provide a continuous platform for technology exchange between domestic startups and the multinational pharmaceutical company BMS, a partnering office will also be established within Seoul Bio Hub. BMS will set up a separate partnering office in Hongneung Bio Hub in April to support startup growth through continuous technology exchange and consultation with bio-medical companies.

Additionally, multinational companies with excellent technology and know-how will be attracted to the Global Cooperation Building under construction at Seoul Bio Hub (Hongneung) to support bio startups in growing into unicorn companies through mutual networking and cooperation with domestic companies.

Hwang Bo-yeon, Director of Economic Policy at the Seoul Metropolitan Government, said, “For excellent startups to expand and grow beyond the domestic market into overseas markets, cooperation projects such as open innovation with global companies are essential. By collaborating with the world’s 5th largest global pharmaceutical company, we will expand the points of technological exchange between domestic companies with innovative technologies and global companies to strengthen the foundation for the growth of unicorn companies in the pharmaceutical and bio sectors.”

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