MIT Scholars and Startup CEOs Gather... Pharmaceutical Bio Association Hosts Conference

2023 MIT-Korea Conference
Highlighting Innovations in New Drug Development and Manufacturing Processes

The Korea Pharmaceutical and Bio-Pharma Manufacturers Association announced on the 11th that it will hold the '2023 MIT-Korea Conference' on the 28th at the Westin Chosun Hotel in Jung-gu, Seoul, in collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Industry Liaison Program (MIT ILP).

Exterior view of the Korea Pharmaceutical and Bio-Pharma Manufacturers Association in Bangbae-dong, Seocho-gu, Seoul. [Photo by Korea Pharmaceutical and Bio-Pharma Manufacturers Association]

MIT ILP is a leading industry-academia collaboration program that supports the linkage between MIT's academic research achievements and the industry in various fields such as healthcare and information and communication technology. The Pharmaceutical and Bio-Pharma Manufacturers Association joined MIT ILP as a consortium with 14 member companies in June 2020.

This event, now in its third year, is prepared as the first in-person event. The conference will focus on new drug development and manufacturing processes, featuring presentations by world-renowned experts in each field. As an in-person event, there will also be networking opportunities through technology showcases and on-site booths by MIT-affiliated startups.

First, Professor James Collins from MIT’s Institute for Medical Engineering and Science (IMES) will open the conference with a lecture on ‘Developing New Antibiotics Using Artificial Intelligence.’ Professor Collins, one of the core researchers at the Broad Institute jointly established by MIT and Harvard, is an authority in synthetic biology. Following this, MIT-affiliated startups will present their competitive strengths in a ‘Lightning Talk’ session.

In the afternoon, presentations will cover topics such as ▲Chemical discovery and development using AI, automation, and flow chemistry (Professor Klavs Jensen, MIT Department of Materials Science and Engineering) ▲Next-generation development and manufacturing methods of recombinant proteins (Professor Christopher Love, MIT Department of Chemical Engineering) ▲Molecular technologies for discovery, delivery, and manufacturing of small molecules, proteins, and oligonucleotides (Professor Bradley Pentelute, MIT Department of Chemistry). Among them, Professor Klavs Jensen is a co-author of over 500 papers and a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences (NAS). Professors Christopher Love and Bradley Pentelute are also tenured professors at MIT.

Additionally, from Ginkgo Bioworks, founded by MIT alumni, Behdad Mahdavi, Senior Vice President, will present on ▲Optimizing manufacturing processes using cell engineering platforms. From AI drug development company XtalPi, Jisang Eun, Application Scientist, will present on ▲How Artificial Intelligence (AI) enhances the efficiency of drug discovery.

No Yeonhong, Chairman of the Korea Pharmaceutical and Bio-Pharma Manufacturers Association, stated, "This conference will be an opportunity to accelerate exchanges with leading scholars and key startup representatives at MIT, a core hub of global innovation ecosystems. The association will continue to collaborate with MIT ILP to promote the excellence of the domestic pharmaceutical and bio-pharma industry and support overseas expansion."

MIT Korea Conference Poster. [Image provided by Korea Pharmaceutical and Bio-Pharma Manufacturers Association]

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