CHA Biotech said on the 23rd that it will discover domestic biotech startups with Novartis Korea. The two companies will support startups' innovative technologies and help with commercialization, investment links, and overseas expansion.
CHA Biotech recently signed a business agreement with Novartis Korea to build open innovation. The two companies will co-host mentoring, training, and networking events for startups and seek overseas partnership opportunities.
CHA Biotech is building a cell and gene therapy complex in the second Pangyo Techno Valley. Cell and gene therapies are next-generation medicines that fundamentally cure diseases by modifying a patient's cells or genes. Research and development, clinical trials, manufacturing, and business development can be done here.
CHA Biotech will operate the K-Bio CIC Open Innovation Center with a size of 10,000 square meters (3,000 pyeong) in the complex. CIC is a biotech venture hub established in 1999 in Cambridge near Boston, the United States. Earlier, CHA Bio Group signed a business agreement with CIC to build the Pangyo Innovation Center. Novartis Korea will participate in programs run by the innovation center and provide technical advice.
Cha Won-tae, CEO of CHA Biotech, said, "Open innovation is not a choice but a necessity in the biotech industry," adding, "We will connect global pharmaceutical companies and biotech startups." You Byung-jae, CEO of Novartis Korea, said, "We will support the challenges of domestic biotech corporations based on global experience."