BioSpectrum - Pharma - Korea: the new IT-BT convergence hub

Nov 1, 2007: South Korea is making an all-out attempt to power its economy with the IT-BT convergence. Leveraging on its superior IT technology the country is looking at creating synergistic combination of biotechnology, information technology and nanotechnology.

In the Incheon Free Economic Zone, country’s two best universities, Seoul National University (SNU) and Korea Advanced Institute of Science & Technology (KAIST) have mapped out an ambitious $1 billion project called the Emile Project, in the Cheongna District.

Also, referred to as the BIT Port, the five-year project (2008—2012) aims to create infrastructure for the next generation scientific R&D by building a BIT complex. This will include a biotechnology complex, IT complex, common facility complex, education and business complex along with a BIT test bed residence and a research-oriented international hospital.

The aim is to develop new technology and products through international cooperation model between university, laboratory and the industrial world at home and abroad. Led by KAIST and SNU this project will take the country among top 10 globally in the field of Bio-IT convergence technologies
and products.

Just to give you some idea on how big is this Bio-IT convergence industry. According to Korea IT Times, the medical gadget and electronics medical gadgets that comprise most of Bio-IT industry in the existing market is said to be about 10 percent of the medical gadget market and is estimated to be worth $16 billion annually. While bioinformatics and biochip market, classified as BIT industry is said to be $20 billion and $5 billion
respectively.

In the future to come, diagnosis and medical treatment will be possible in real time through cutting edge IT technology-based medical gadgets. And Korea is working towards strengthening its position in that future.

At the recently concluded, Korean bio-industry showcase event, BioKorea 2007, there was a prototype to the effect on show at the Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology (KRIBB) booth. An enterprising scientist Dr Bong Hyun Chung has gone ahead and integrated the glucose-monitoring device with the mobile phone, which in real time via Internet can transmit the data to the physician. Given that diabetes is acquiring epidemic proportions across Asia the device could be a runaway hit, provided a healthcare infrastructure that supports it is in place. While this prototype awaits commercialization a number of such innovative applications are said to be in development in various labs across the country.

Mobile life care and ubiquitous healthcare are the buzzwords in Seoul social circles. According to Korea National Statistical Office, of the country’s estimated 50 million population about 16 percent are over the age of 65, and by 2050 this figure will rise to close to 40 percent of the population. As an ageing society the country needs huge investments in healthcare infrastructure to meet the needs of such a society. Korea’s U-Healthcare System is an effort to address the healthcare challenges of the ageing society. The country’s bio-industry is also rising to meet the challenge.

In the following pages BioSpectrum brings you some snapshots from BioKorea 2007, held in Seoul from September 12—14, 2007. The event in its second edition has scaled up in participation and showcases the work that is happening in the industry.

Korea’s ubiquitous healthcare system has the potential to provide cheaper and smarter ways to manage and care for patients suffering from age-related chronic diseases. In the ubiquitous healthcare system (U-Healthcare System), sensor devices for measuring a bio signal or environment information communicate with the mobile system for collecting bio signals and environment information by wireless personal area network.

A number of applications are under development since the announcement of Korea ‘U-Healthcare System’. This national project promising anytime, anywhere healthcare has caught the imagination of the Korean bio-industry. As the mobile healthcare system gets commercialized we will get to see more applications like the one in the picture here.

Novartis Venture Fund enters Korea

The Korean bio-industry has attracted the attention of Novartis Venture Fund (NVF). This $550 million private equity fund operated by multinational pharmaceutical Novartis International AG has entered the Korean equity market. Dr Anja Koenig, Managing Director, NVF, met-up with close to 100 Korean industry leaders at a breakfast meeting to share that this private equity fund is all set to enter the Asia market and has made a beginning with India and Korea.

Making a point Dr Koenig, said that the fund would be willing to bet on emerging bio-businesses with a longer time horizon for exit. According to her, this is also the key differentiator between NVF and the other local venture capital funds that usually aim for return on their investment in a time span of three years.

South Korea’s biotechnology industry on an average has been growing at over 13 percent every year. From $800 million in 2000 the biotechnology industry here grew to record $2.7 billion in revenues in 2005.

South Korea’s largest biotech-show BioKorea 2007 in its second edition, this year, recorded over 3,000 participants from across the globe. Close to 150 speakers shared their knowledge and experience with the local industry in the conference session organized in parallel tracks on subjects ranging from contract manufacturing, drug discovery, bioinformatics to technology transfer in Asia. Of these speakers, close to 50 percent were from overseas. This apart, 108 companies participated in the one-to-one business forum partnering meetings.

The government in South Korea has identified biotechnology as the key growth engine for the country. Most recently, the “biomedicine and organ project” has been included among the 10 next generation growth engines, for which the government support and funding has been stepped up. To strengthen South Korea’s R&D and infrastructure, the government has made an annual commitment of over $60 billion spread across segments.

The plenary session of the conference saw an encouraging announcement. The next edition of BioKorea would be held in October 2008 at Osong Bio-Technopolis located in Chungbuk, Korea. Osong complex is the country’s first bioengineering cluster. Launched in 2003, the project is scheduled to finish and be ready for occupation by December 2007. About 22 companies, including CJ Corp., and Jeil Pharm have signed contracts to move into the complex.

How does MyoCell work?

Step 1: A five to 10 gram muscle biopsy from the patient’s thigh is performed under local anesthesia, placed in transport media, and shipped to a Bioheart controlled cell culturing facility.

Step 2: In the following two-three weeks. The satellite cells are enzymatically dissociated and pure myoblasts cells are expanded in vitro. After a few passages, myoblast cells are then transferred to increase production.

Step 3: Final product MyoCell is then packaged in sterile bags and then shipped to the transplantation site. MyoCell has a shelf life of approximately four days.

Step 4: In a surgical cell transplantation procedure lasting 30 minutes Bioheart SR-200 catheter is inserted intravascularly and the cells are injected to the damaged portion of the heart.

Result: The damaged heart muscle is partially regenerated with healthy tissue. The implanted myoblast cells proliferate in a controlled manner, contained in the infracted area. The cells are inherently resistant to ischemia and thrive in the oxygen-deprived environment.

This cluster, part of a long-term development plan to help the country join the ranks of the world’s top 10 bio-science powerhouses by 2010, will also house the nation’s four largest state-run health and medical bodies—the Korean Food and Drug Administration, the National Institute for Toxicological Research, the Korea Center for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) and the Korean Health Industry Development Institute (KHIDI).