# Boston, Massachusetts, USA, and San Diego, California, have a common point: bio-ecosystems have been achieved based on active exchanges among experts. Boston was spontaneously gathered by the ecosystem where biotechnology companies could coexist, and as a result, the Massachusetts State Department reported that the number of biotech and biotechnology related companies in Massachusetts increased from 21,656 in 2007 to 21,997 in 2014 I created jobs. Besides, Boston`s annual bio - and biotech venture investments in Massachusetts have risen from $ 600 million in 2005 to $ 1.8 billion in 2008, tripling to 2014, making Boston the world`s largest bio-cluster.

San Diego, which has been active in exchanges with Connect, a start-up and technology transfer promotion program, and Biocom, a regional biotechnology association, also revealed that annual biotechnology and biotechnology related jobs will increase from 19,134 to 2014. The number of people in the group increased by 41.8 % to 27,123 and these networks and cooperative cultures have broken the boundaries of industry, science, society, and disease and promoted industry innovation. Recently, there has been a boom in the creation of ecosystems in Korea.

◇ Innovative New Drug Academic Discussion Section "Innovative New Drug Saloon" = At 7 pm on September 26, the `Innovative New Drug Drill` meeting was held at the Samyang Discovery Center in Bundang-gu, Gyeonggi-si and other key players in the domestic biotechnology industry. The Pangyo Innovation New Drug Salon, which started in May last year, is held every month in the form of seminars and academic meetings.

In June, a meeting was held with local bio-experts in San Diego, USA. Since this year, Samyang BioPharm, located in Bundang-gu, Seongnam city, is cooperating with providing innovative places for new drug salons.

The attendees, on the day, greeted each other with simple sandwiches and beverages, and from 7:30 pm Song Sang-ok, Chief Operating Officer of Sangdaem, said, "We are interested in the artificial intelligence (AI) `Started to present the theme. The event center, Samyang Discovery Center Business Center, was decorated like a cafe, so participants listened to lectures in a relatively free atmosphere.

Song COO mentioned that various changes in the development of new drugs using AI have been detected all over the world and that there is a growing interest in the artificial intelligent drug development society called "AI Permanent Innovation" in Boston, USA in July. Besides, it has been introduced Standim business model for disease prediction and verification using AI as well as the questions were answered by new drug development and biotechnology experts who filled the gap. A professor at a new graduate school suggested on-the-spot collaborative inquiries.

There was a follow-up at the neighboring chicken house. CEO Lee Jung-kyu of Bridge Bio after the lecture, CEO of venture capital, bio-related group, etc. gathered together to drink beer and actively discussed industry trends and business fields.

Innovation New Drug Salon is not only offline meeting but also social network service (SNS) facebook, real-time sharing of latest bio trend, event guide and industry related question and answer are being done. As of this month, members of Facebook meeting are 1772 respectively.

◇ Samsung Electronics` hospital also creates a `bio-ecosystem` Spur-of-the-road networking such as the New Drug Salon is naturally rooted in Korea. On the 16th, Samsung Biotech held the 5th Bio-Pharmaceutical Exchange Meeting held in Cheongdam-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul.

Since February, Samsung Bioepis Co., Ltd has been providing a venue for communication with light cocktails and simple ceremonies for industry participants. About 200 people attended the event. Ko Han Seung, CEO of Samsung Bioepis Co., Ltd, said, "We are conducting an event to create a communication space to share industry trends and information in a light atmosphere. We expect that various business opportunities will be created by networking with experts from various fields.”

Pharmicell has been organizing regular academic symposiums for domestic medical staff and industry representatives since 2009 to enhance academic understanding of stem cells and to enhance communication in the industry. Besides, CodyM held a `Global Open Innovation Forum` in Yeouido Hana Financial Investment Co. in Seoul last June, and held `First Hugel Open Innovation Demo Day` in Tipstown, Yeoksam-dong, Seoul.

The hospital is also participating in this trend. Bundang Seoul National University Hospital Healthcare Innovation Park (HIP) will hold a `Hub and Spoke_Net` event for healthcare professionals at the Healthcare Innovation Park Stadium in Bundang-gu, Seongnam, Korea. The term "hub and spoke", which is a logistics term, means that the cargo is collected and transported to various places like a hub, which is the hub of the hub, and the industry representatives gather in one place to form a network through communication. Bongong Min Bundang Seoul National Univ. Hospital`s research assistant chairman suggested that this event, which began in March, will be held every bimonthly from April. It will be held by 200 investors, medical device industry personnel, and hospital clinical professors.

◇ Association and groups also support innovation through `communication` = This communication is the basis of `open innovation`, which breaks the boundaries and promotes commercialization. Domestic pharmaceutical and biotech organizations are also taking the lead in creating ecosystems for this.

Meanwhile, the Korean Pharmaceutical Biotechnology Association and the Korea Global Pharmaceutical Industry Association (KMA) are organizing the "Korean Pharmaceutical Industry Joint Conference" every year since 2014. It aims to share the open innovation strategy of global pharmaceutical companies and seek joint growth.

Korea Pharmaceutical Biotechnology Association held the first `Bio Open Plaza` at the Bangbae-dong Association of Seoul on the 21st of last month with the intention to create a bio-innovation ecosystem. Recently, it carried out large-scale construction at the pharmaceutical hall, And the Open Innovation Plaza. In order to help the member companies, bio-ventures, related organizations, organizations, etc. to be used as free communication places, Won Hee-mok, chairman of the Korean Pharmaceutical Biotechnology Association, said, "In the future, And will continue to pursue communication and cooperation by collecting the shared intentions of industry, academia, and government so as to become a global pharmaceutical powerhouse while positioning itself as a ‘national industry’.

The Korea Biological Association is committed to signing MOUs with biotechnology associations, organizations, hospitals, and domestic and foreign investors from China, Australia, and Switzerland, and promoting exchanges with member companies. In addition, the Korea Bio Bio-Plus event will be held on the 23rd at COEX in Gangnam-gu, Seoul on the 23rd, including the bio-partnering forum and bio-plus Incheon, to promote active exchanges and business opportunities in the industry.

Accelerators are also being tried in Korea to accelerate growth by helping early founders, such as professors and researchers, establish a future strategy for the future.

In the case of United States, accelerating the investment in early-stage health care companies is considered to be the role of an accelerator. According to the Center for Biotechnology Policy Research, 87 of the world`s 115 healthcare-related accelerators in 2014 are located in the United States.

Korea, on the other hand, `Digital Healthcare Partners` (DHP) was established in June last year to nurture digital healthcare start-ups. Currently, three generic disease analysis companies `Three Billion`, `Drug Diary`, a mobile and `Surgical Mind` which develops virtual reality (VR) based cataract surgery simulator.

The Korean New Drug Development Research Association has also held an open innovation forum every year, including the Interbiz Bio-Partnering Forum, and decided to act as an accelerator through the K-BD Group, which will be launched later this year.

It has entered into a strategic alliance with Xn Tree to achieve this, a UK-based accelerator, and they are discussing further cooperation with overseas accelerators. The Korea New Drug Development Research Association plans to pursue `On-demand Open Innovation` in line with the needs of companies with the motto of `One company 1 start up`, in which one large pharmaceutical company intensively fosters one start-up.

By Kim Ji Seob cloud50@


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