Amgen, K-Pharma, and Bio Open Innovation Collaboration Facilitated by Promotion Agency

The Korea Health Industry Development Institute (KHIDI) announced that it successfully held the '2023 KHIDI-Amgen Science Academy: Pitching and Bio Day,' co-hosted with Amgen Korea, over two days from the 14th to the 15th.

Aiching Lim, Executive Director of Amgen Global R&D; Helen Kim, Executive Director of BD; Eunyoung Jung, Director of Health Industry Policy Bureau, Ministry of Health and Welfare; Soondo Cha, President of Korea Health Industry Development Institute; Jessica Drozy, Vice President of Amgen Global BD (front row from left); Sangkyung Noh, CEO of Amgen Korea; Sua Kim, Executive Director of Medical Affairs at Amgen Korea; Matthias Klinger, Director of Amgen Global R&D; Andy Rankin, Executive Director of R&D (back row from left) and other attendees of the '2023 KHIDI-Amgen Science Academy: Pitching and Bio Day' are posing for a commemorative photo.
Photo by Korea Health Industry Development Institute

This event is a flagship open innovation program between Amgen and KHIDI, designed to share Amgen's research and development (R&D) technologies and strategies with domestic pharmaceutical and bio companies and to explore future collaboration opportunities.

The main event, held on the 15th at the KHIDI Health Industry Innovation Startup Center on the 3rd floor in Jung-gu, Seoul, was attended by Jeong Eun-young, Director General of the Health Industry Policy Bureau at the Ministry of Health and Welfare, six KHIDI officials, as well as Nosang Kyung, CEO of Amgen Korea, and Amgen’s global R&D and business development (BD) department representatives, including Amgen-affiliated mentor advisors.

During the subsequent 'Bio Day' session, approximately 190 employees from pharmaceutical and bio companies and related organizations participated, covering a wide range of the latest insights on Amgen Global’s research and development and business development. In the R&D department, Executive Director Aiching Lim introduced the use of next-generation tools for designing excellent biopharmaceuticals. Executive Director Andy Rankin and Director Matthias Klinger presented on 'Next-generation tumor treatment strategies in oncology research' and 'BiTE (Bispecific T-cell Engager) technology, one of the T-cell-based immuno-oncology therapies,' respectively. Additionally, Executive Director Helen Kim from Amgen Global’s BD department shared information on Amgen’s focused areas of open innovation, strategies, and collaboration cases.

In the 'Pitching Day' session held the same afternoon, a total of 39 companies applied, exceeding last year’s number. After preliminary document evaluations by KHIDI and Amgen, eight companies were selected to present at the Pitching Day. The session featured in-depth presentations, Q&A, and discussions by eight domestic pharmaceutical and bio companies equipped with technologies and capabilities for discovering and developing innovative therapies in Amgen’s areas of interest: 'cancer,' 'cardiovascular metabolic diseases,' and 'inflammatory and autoimmune diseases.'

The final winning companies will be announced in November. Winners will receive a total prize of 80 million KRW, and the first and second place companies will be granted a one-year mentorship opportunity with Amgen Global’s R&D department.

Meanwhile, during the 'Networking' session held the previous day (14th), 73 companies applied through the official website. After preliminary document evaluations by KHIDI and Amgen, six companies, including Voronoi, were finally selected. The selected companies had one-on-one meetings with Amgen Global’s R&D and BD senior managers to explore practical collaboration opportunities.

Cha Sun-do, President of KHIDI, stated, "Since 2021, KHIDI and Amgen have continued open innovation cooperation, and based on the trust and collaboration built over time, we signed a memorandum of understanding in March to strengthen the competitiveness of the domestic biohealth industry. KHIDI will continue to strive for mutual growth and innovative development through open innovation cooperation with Amgen."

Nosang Kyung, CEO of Amgen Korea, also said, "Through this event, we hope domestic pharmaceutical and bio companies can confirm the latest insights from Amgen Global’s R&D and business development departments and engage in productive discussions. As a global biotechnology leader, Amgen will continue to make efforts to create more touchpoints and collaborate with domestic pharmaceutical and bio companies through open innovation.”

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