Korea-US Bio Association Joins Hands to "Revitalize Bioeconomy in Both Countries"

The Korea Bio Association announced on the 26th that it signed a cooperation MOU with the U.S. Bio Association (BIO) on the 25th (local time) in Washington DC during President Yoon Suk-yeol's state visit to the United States to promote the bioeconomies of both countries.

On the 25th (local time), at the MOU signing ceremony held in Washington DC, USA, Rachel King, President of the American Bio Association, Lee Chang-yang, Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy, and Ko Han-seung, President of the Korea Bio Association (from left), are posing for a commemorative photo.
[Photo by Korea Bio Association]

This MOU is the first agreement between the representative bio associations of Korea and the United States. It was established to activate partnerships between Korean and U.S. bio companies in line with the purpose emphasized in the National Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing Initiative announced by U.S. President Joe Biden last September, which aims to "build a prosperous and secure global bioeconomy with allied countries."

Taking this opportunity, both parties agreed to cooperate and discuss policy issues to stabilize the global supply chain of the bioindustry in both countries and to jointly support activities that promote partnerships among their member companies.

Going forward, the two associations will collaborate to discuss matters such as joint research, production, research and development (R&D), and market information sharing between the bioindustries of both countries, aiming to stabilize the supply chain not only for biopharmaceutical raw materials but also across the overall bioindustry including healthcare, food, and energy. They will also promote exchanges between Korean and U.S. bio companies by utilizing the platforms of bio conventions hosted by both organizations: Korea’s BioPlus-Interphex Korea (BIX) and the U.S. bio convention (BIO USA). At BIO USA, held in Boston this June, the Korea Bio Association will operate a Korean pavilion and a Korea-U.S. corporate roundtable. Subsequently, at BIX held at COEX in Seoul in July, the U.S. Bio Association will directly participate in the ‘BIO Debriefing’ session to present on the impact of the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) on the Korean bioindustry and companies.

Go Han-seung, chairman of the Korea Bio Association, said, “We look forward to sharing future strategies for the bioindustry,” and added, “Taking this MOU as an opportunity, we will spare no effort at the association level to support strengthening partnerships as allies to revitalize the bioeconomies of both countries.”

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