Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon Advances Bio and Medical Industry Development, Collaborates with 'Swiss Basel' and 'Novartis'

Meeting with Novartis International Innovative Medicines President... Discussing Expansion of Open Innovation and Public-Private Cooperation
Memorandum of Understanding Signed Between Korea University and Basel University... Establishing Industry-Academia-Research Collaboration Model in Bio Medical Field

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon is collaborating with the Basel cantonal government in Switzerland, a global hub of the bio-industry ecosystem, and the global pharmaceutical company Novartis to support the research and development and overseas expansion of Seoul’s outstanding bio and medical technology startups.

As his first schedule in Basel, Switzerland, Mayor Oh met with Marie-France Tschudin, President and Chief Marketing Officer of Novartis International Innovative Medicines, at the Novartis campus on the 25th local time. The President of International Innovative Medicines oversees the global pharmaceutical market excluding the United States within Novartis. Novartis has been a key partner in Seoul’s bio and medical sectors, providing full support for discovering and nurturing promising bio and medical startups based in Seoul since signing a Letter of Intent (LOI) in 2019.

Through this meeting, Mayor Oh aimed to expand cooperation with Novartis by increasing support for open innovation and discussed a public-private partnership model to enhance the health and welfare of Seoul citizens, focusing on cardiovascular diseases, dyslipidemia, and diabetes. In particular, Mayor Oh introduced Seoul as “a city equipped with bio and medical industry capabilities, hosting world-class hospitals and ranking first globally in clinical trials for new drug development,” and requested increased interest and investment in Korea and Seoul.

Mayor Oh also met with Governor Beat Jans to discuss concrete plans for exchange and cooperation in the bio and medical fields between the two cities. This meeting was held as a follow-up to the sister city MOU signed between Seoul and Basel-Stadt on September 29 and was arranged to concretize discussions for the development of exchange and cooperation in the bio and medical sectors between the two cities. Through this meeting, the two cities plan to establish an industry-academia-research cooperation model to strengthen collaboration in bio and medical fields.

First, a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed between Korea University and the University of Basel, representing the bio and medical clusters of Seoul and Basel. Through this MOU, exchanges between researchers and startup companies in the bio and medical fields of the two universities will expand, laying the foundation for strengthening industry-academia-research cooperation between Seoul and Basel through technology transfer, joint research, and academic events.

An MOU was also signed for cooperation in the bio and medical fields between ‘Seoul Bio Hub’ and ‘Basel Innovation Office,’ the leading startup support organizations in the two cities. Seoul Bio Hub and Basel Innovation Office will expand local accelerating programs for bio startup exchange, technology exchange, and joint research through this agreement, and plan to establish mutual cooperation bases in Hongneung, Seoul, and Basel, Switzerland in the future.

Meanwhile, Mayor Oh also met with entrepreneurs, businesspeople, and workers in the pharmaceutical and bio sectors who have entered the Swiss market to discuss the effectiveness of business expansion and Seoul’s support measures. Mayor Oh expressed his expectations, saying, “Through this visit to Basel, Switzerland, we will develop the sister city agreement signed previously in Seoul, and through collaboration among global companies, universities, and institutions, opportunities for K-bio companies to enter the European market will expand, and the overall domestic bio industry will grow.”

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