Daewoong Pharmaceutical said on the 9th it is recruiting the fifth class for its open innovation program "Innovare Contest," aimed at startups in pharmaceuticals, biotech, and healthcare. Applications are open until Feb. 28.
The Innovare Contest is an open innovation program run by Daewoong Pharmaceutical, now in its fifth year. It discovers startups with technologies and ideas and proceeds with step-by-step business links, including startup support, technology cooperation, strategic investment, and joint development.
The recruitment fields are nine areas: ▲ synthetic new drugs ▲ artificial intelligence (AI)·platforms ▲ biopharmaceuticals (antibodies·proteins) ▲ gene therapies ▲ cell therapies ▲ Organoid ▲ drug delivery systems (DDS) ▲ medical devices·healthcare ▲ companion animal healthcare. Technologies closely related to Daewoong Pharmaceutical's mid- to long-term research and development (R&D) strategy are eligible.
Daewoong Pharmaceutical plans to give preference to corporations that fit the specified demand technology fields, corporations with collaboration experience with Daewoong Pharmaceutical or Daewoong Group affiliates, and corporations located in major research and development hubs such as Daejeon, Gwangju, and Pohang.
This year's contest will, for the first time, offer priority move-in opportunities to the Daewoong Magok research center, scheduled for completion in the first half of this year. It also provides links to the public-private startup support programs "TIPS" and "Scale-up TIPS," preferential treatment for research and development support, and advantages when selecting follow-up projects.
The recruitment tracks operate in three categories: ▲ pre-startup and corporate establishment support ▲ strategic equity investment and collaboration ▲ joint research·commercialization verification (PoC)·marketing collaboration. Applicants may choose one track based on their corporation's growth stage.
The pre-startup track supports initial fundraising and laying the foundation for commercialization, centered on linkage with TIPS. The strategic equity investment track involves investment review on the premise of collaboration with Daewoong Pharmaceutical. The joint development track reviews collaboration possibilities across the entire cycle—joint research, PoC, commercialization, marketing cooperation, and sales contracts—regardless of equity investment. Corporations selected for the joint development track last year are currently conducting PoC research with Daewoong Pharmaceutical.
Park Seong-su, CEO of Daewoong Pharmaceutical, said, "The Innovare Contest is a program to expand research and development capabilities through collaboration with startups," adding, "We plan to continue cooperation with external technologies by leveraging our research infrastructure, including the Magok research center."