BioSpectrum Asia's complete coverage of BIX 2026: three daily reports from COEX, exclusive conversations on stem cells and brain-computer interfaces, videos from the floor, and what three days in Seoul mean for Korean biotech.
The View from COEX
Every October, COEX becomes the place where Korea shows the world how much it can make. BIX 2026 did that again, on a bigger stage than ever. More than 300 companies from 35 countries took around 600 booths, and demand for space pushed the exhibition onto a second floor for the first time. Yet the most important change happened in the conference rooms. Over three days, almost nobody asked whether Korean science works. They asked who will partner on it, who will pay for it, and on what terms.
Day 1 set the tone. Dr Sally Temple opened with the long road from stem cell to therapy, and the sessions that followed kept returning to one question: what makes a Korean asset partnerable? We heard it in radiopharmaceuticals, in autoimmune and RNA programmes, in a frank look at Europe, and in a closing debate on who leads the obesity market after GLP-1.
Day 2 went straight to the deal table. Goodwin's Stuart Cable took delegates inside the boardroom when big pharma comes knocking. Panels followed on NewCo structures, on whether global investors would write the check for Korean biotech, and a two-hour marathon on why great deals fall apart. Down on the floor, Samsung Biologics, Samsung Bioepis and a new generation of ADC and cell therapy manufacturers showed Korea's muscle in full.
Day 3 looked further ahead. Neurotechnology founders and investors asked how to turn brain science into business, AI developers were pushed to prove value beyond speed, and Dr Dion Kelly ran a live brain-computer interface demonstration on The Platz.
One worry ran beneath all of it. Korea's CDMOs still import most of the critical materials they run on, and the government has now put KRW 400 billion behind closing that gap through 2033. For readers who want the full picture, our new Country Report, The CDMO Superpower's Next Act, goes deeper on the capital test Korea now faces.
Our team reported from COEX every day, with Saradha Mani filing from the halls and conference rooms. This page brings it all together: the daily reports, our exclusive conversations, the videos we shared from the floor and the Country Report. This year's theme was "Real Innovation Glows in the Dark". In a tight funding cycle, it felt exactly right. We hope this coverage helps you find your place in Korea's next chapter.
Coverage timeline
Follow BIX 2026 in the order our team filed it, from the opening keynote to the closing analysis.
Day 1 · Wed 28 Oct
From neural stem cells to orbital drug processing and the race beyond GLP-1, the opening day asked what makes a Korean asset partnerable, fundable and ready for the world.
Day 2 · Thu 29 Oct
M&A, NewCo structures, investor scrutiny and the deals that fall apart filled the conference rooms, while an exhibition expanded to a second floor showed Korea's manufacturing muscle.
Day 3 · Fri 30 Oct
Neurotechnology, AI drug discovery that must prove its value and a live brain-computer interface demo closed three days that asked Korea to turn its strengths into deals that last.
Filter the sessions we covered by day and theme. Each one links to the report that covers it.
What it means for Korea
Select a takeaway to see the argument and where it came up across the three days.
On the floor
A show that outgrew its hall, under the theme "Real Innovation Glows in the Dark". Here is what stood out across the exhibition and pavilions.
An end-to-end CDMO offer with more than 145 global clients and growing work in multispecifics, ADCs and mRNA, plus a Lilly Gateway Lab planned in Songdo.
A policy message as much as a product one: wider biosimilar use at home would lower drug prices and ease pressure on national health insurance.
The Chong Kun Dang Group affiliate is building an ADC payload CDMO business, reporting around 15 confirmed partnering meetings at BIX.
A single-building microbial biologics site, robotic-arm aseptic filling, and cell and gene therapy manufacturing experience from TG-C.
A combined space for AI-driven drug discovery, biomanufacturing technology and bio materials, focused on taking AI from R&D into the plant.
Canada as Country of Honour, a Lithuanian national pavilion, exhibitors from China and India, and clusters from Seoul, Incheon, Siheung and Hongcheon.
Only about 60 to 70 of roughly 190 key raw materials can be made domestically. The government plans to invest KRW 400 billion through 2033 to stabilise the supply chain for bio materials, parts and equipment.
Exclusive conversations
On the sidelines of BIX 2026, BioSpectrum Asia sat down with two speakers who shaped the week: the opening keynote and the closing demonstration.
"Preserve cells when we can, and replace them when they are already gone."Dr Sally Temple
"We need to build technology that adapts to them."Dr Dion Kelly, on BCI users
From the floor
All ten videos and updates our team shared from COEX Seoul, in one place.
Event coverage, interviews and Asia's biotech deal flow, as it happens.
BioSpectrum Asia · Country Report · Korea
South Korea can already make almost any medicine on earth. The question is whether it can invent one.
Our new Country Report goes inside the largest biomanufacturing machine ever built, and the harder question underneath it.
A second story runs against the first. While Korean science is licensed out for billions, domestic venture funding has fallen sharply. The country has learned to invent faster than it has learned to finance.
Inside: the capital test, the K-biopharma scoreboard and the 2026 to 2030 watchlist.
Read the report →Connect with BioSpectrum Asia
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