Domestic pharmaceutical and biotech corporations are pushing to transfer their offices. Because information sharing among researchers is important in new drug and biotech development, they are moving their bases to places where they can collaborate. They also gather scattered affiliates in one place for technical collaboration.
Organoid Science will move its headquarters location on Jan. 10 from Pangyo in Seongnam, Gyeonggi, to Osong in North Chungcheong. Research and development staff will relocate to Osong, and some employees who need to work in the Seoul metropolitan area, such as sales, will remain in Pangyo. Organoid Science has Organoid (mini organ) technology that can verify new drug efficacy in place of animal testing and develop regenerative therapies.
Osong is home to national institutions such as the Ministery of Food and Drug Safety, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, and the National Institute of Health, as well as a life science complex and biotech corporations. The company expects synergy in the research process with biotech corporations.
An industry official said, "As Osong fosters the biotech industry, local governments will be able to quickly collaborate with corporations when they carry out related projects."
SK bioscience plans to move about 500 employees from its Pangyo headquarters and research institute to the Songdo global research and process development (R&PD) center soon.
Since 2021, the company has invested more than 300 billion won to secure a site of about 30,414 square meters (9,216 pyeong) in Songdo. A biotech research institute, plant, offices, and more will be established there. The company plans to expand research into cell and gene therapy (CGT) and messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines.
An SK bioscience official said, "The center has now been completed," adding, "We are organizing interior furniture and more."
Songdo is close to Incheon Airport and seaports, making it easy to procure raw and subsidiary materials for biopharmaceuticals and to reduce related expense. It is also relatively advantageous for securing top talent because it is not far from Seoul and Gyeonggi Province. Biotech corporations such as Samsung Biologics and Celltrion have settled in Songdo for these reasons. An official in the biotech industry said, "There is a lot of collaboration with overseas corporations, and Songdo is convenient for work travel because the airport is nearby."
HLB Group brought scattered affiliates together in a new headquarters building in Hakdong, Gangnam, in Dec. last year. Previously, HLB PAHRMA was in Munjeong-dong, Songpa District; HLB Life Science was in Seolleung; and HLB Therapeutics was in Bundang, Seongnam, among other locations. To reduce rent burdens and improve work efficiency, the company purchased the new Hakdong headquarters in Feb. 2024.
The new headquarters has four underground floors and seven above ground, with a total floor area of 9,610 square meters (about 2,907 pyeong). Affiliate employees can share work and collaborate on technology in the same space. The company plans to establish a culture in which employees narrow physical and psychological distances and collaborate naturally.
PharmAbcine, an antibody therapeutics development corporation, plans to put on the agenda a change to its articles of incorporation to move its headquarters location from Daejeon to Yongin, Gyeonggi, at a shareholders meeting on the 15th. Daejeon, where PharmAbcine is located, has a concentration of biotech corporations such as Alteogen and LigaChem Biosciences. Founded in 2008, PharmAbcine was listed on KOSDAQ in 2018, but clinical trials of its new drug candidate Olinvacimab were halted and it faced a funding crunch.
PharmAbcine was delisted by the Korea Exchange (KRX) in May last year. The company filed for an injunction with the court to suspend the effect of the delisting against the Korea Exchange (KRX). Related procedures, including closing transactions, are on hold until the court reaches a conclusion. The company did not respond regarding the reason for changing its headquarters.