National Research Council of Science & Technology (NST) and Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) have established a hub in Boston to support the technology commercialization of Government-funded research institute (출연연).
NST and KIST said they held an opening ceremony for "G-KIC-NST Americas" in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on the 28th (local time) and began operations. The hub is a strategic base for the Americas designated by the Ministry of Science and ICT and is the ministry's first science and technology hub set up in the Boston area.
G-KIC-NST Americas will support on-site validation and commercialization so that technologies developed by government-funded research institutes can move from technology transfer to productization, clinical trials, and fundraising.
Global pharmaceutical companies, Harvard, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), major hospitals, and venture capital are clustered in Boston and Cambridge. In particular, the hub was established in view of the advantage of validating bio technologies with local medical institutions or corporations and linking them to investment.
The center completed registration as a Massachusetts nonprofit in July and has office space at the Cambridge Innovation Center (CIC). It plans to operate with around six people, including personnel dispatched from Korea and locally hired staff.
Its main tasks are global research and development (R&D) cooperation, support for startups and market entry, and building local networks. Among technologies from government-funded research institutes with local demand, it will conduct proof of concept (PoC) and follow-up research with hospitals, corporations, and venture capital, and it will also support technology transfer, local startups, and connections to fundraising.
Operations will be divided among the Ministry of Science and ICT, NST, and government-funded research institutes. NST will handle joint utilization among the institutes and linkages among overseas hubs, while KIST will oversee hub operations and performance management. Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology (KRIBB) and Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology (KRICT) will also support with personnel and expertise by field.
First Vice Minister Ku Hyuk-chae of the Ministry of Science and ICT said, "Advanced bio is a national strategic technology field that the government is focusing on fostering, and the process of being validated in the global market and connecting to commercialization is as important as securing the technology," and added, "We will spare no policy and institutional support so that this hub in Boston can become a gateway for the excellent research achievements of government-funded research institutes to enter the global market."