CHA Biotech (085660.KQ) said Thursday it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Yonsei University Bio-Health Technology Holdings to foster startups in the biohealth sector. The agreement aims to identify promising biohealth companies at an early stage and build a cooperative framework that links early-stage research and development to clinical trials, manufacturing, and global market entry.
The two organizations will collaborate around CHA Biotech’s “K-Bio-CIC Open Innovation Center” (K-Bio CIC), pursuing technology commercialization, joint program operations, and the expansion of global networks. Based on this foundation, they plan to identify and nurture promising domestic firms and accelerate the clustering of biotech startups around the Pangyo Second Techno Valley.
The partnership will also pursue ▲joint technology commercialization tracks ▲customized accelerating programs tailored to each stage of corporate growth ▲jointly hosted global partnering days ▲programs linked to overseas innovation clusters. The strategy is designed to strengthen the foundation for domestic bio startups to expand globally and to advance the open innovation ecosystem.
Through this agreement, Yonsei University Bio-Health Technology Holdings will identify startups with high growth potential based on the research achievements of Yonsei University and Yonsei University Health System, along with promising technologies in the biohealth field. It plans to strengthen the support system for biohealth startups by linking capabilities in technology commercialization, investment, and corporate growth support.
“The global new drug development paradigm is rapidly shifting toward open innovation based on strategic cooperation from the early R&D stage,” CHA Biotech CEO Cha Won-tae said. “We will grow K-Bio CIC into Asia’s leading bio open innovation hub and a global gateway for Korean bio startups.”
CHA Biotech’s K-Bio CIC, a global bio open innovation hub, is being developed within the CGB facility currently under construction in the Pangyo Second Techno Valley. Of the CGB’s total area of 66,115 square meters (about 20,000 pyeong), 10,000 square meters (about 3,000 pyeong) will be dedicated to K-Bio CIC, with operations scheduled to begin in the second half of 2026.
The platform plans to provide differentiated services as a global open innovation platform by leveraging CHA Biotech’s world-largest cell library, its research and development capabilities in cell and gene therapy (CGT), and its global manufacturing network and clinical access spanning the United States, Korea, and Japan. CHA Biotech recently also signed an MOU with global life sciences company Thermo Fisher Scientific to develop research infrastructure and build an open innovation ecosystem.
