Pohang City Signs Business Agreement with Global Therapeutics Leader 'Kangstem Biotech'

On the 5th, Pohang City, which is promoting the attraction of the national advanced strategic industry 'Bio Specialized Complex,' signed a business agreement with 'Gangstem Biotech' (CEO Na Jongcheon), a global leading company in cell therapy, to foster the bioindustry and attract the bio specialized complex.

On the 5th, a business agreement was signed in the Pohang City Hall conference room to promote the bioindustry and attract a bio-specialized complex. (From left: Baek In-gyu, Chairman of the City Council; Lee Kang-deok, Mayor; Na Jong-cheon, CEO of Gangstem Biotech)

The business agreement was signed in the presence of Lee Kang-deok, Mayor of Pohang, Baek In-gyu, Chairman of the Pohang City Council, and Na Jongcheon, CEO of Gangstem Biotech, where they agreed to seek ways to foster the organoid industry and cooperate mutually, establishing a cooperative system to attract the bio specialized complex.

Organoids, also called organ-like bodies or mini-organs, refer to three-dimensional cell aggregates capable of self-organization that resemble the functions and structures of actual organs.

To this end, both organizations agreed to discover cooperative models through technical consultation and information sharing for the development of the bioindustry and the organoid field, and to jointly respond to various bio policies.

Gangstem Biotech was established in 2010 with the purpose of developing stem cell therapies for rare and intractable diseases, focusing on core businesses such as stem cell therapies derived from umbilical cord blood, organoids, and contract development and manufacturing of pharmaceuticals.

This agreement was prepared following Mayor Lee Kang-deok's visit to Gangstem Biotech on the 17th of last month to discuss ways to build cooperative relationships related to the bioindustry, reaffirming mutual trust and providing insight into Pohang City's continuous efforts to foster the organoid field.

Based on the business agreement with Gangstem Biotech, which leads the domestic organoid market, Pohang City plans to actively promote the attraction of the bio specialized complex by highlighting strengths in various industrial fields utilizing organoids such as cell therapies.

The city plans to make every effort to develop a bio specialized complex based on excellent local bio infrastructure, key bio projects being promoted, and the establishment of the POSTECH Medical School, aiming to become a model case for overcoming regional extinction.

Mayor Lee Kang-deok said, “Pohang is a city possessing the highest level of artificial organ technology in Korea based on POSTECH’s bio-printing core technology,” adding, “Through the business agreement with Gangstem Biotech, the top company in the domestic organoid field, we will create groundbreaking results that can improve the underdeveloped medical environment in local areas by generating mutual synergy.”

Recently, Pohang City was the only city in Korea selected for the Ministry of Science and ICT’s Innovation Research Center (IRC) public project in the advanced bio field, and through support for the Bio Future Technology Innovation Research Center, it is striving to secure gene and cell therapy technologies, which are national strategic technologies leading the future growth of Korea.

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