SONGDO — Ground was broken in Songdo, Incheon, on the K-Bio Lab Hub, a facility that will support biotech startups from research and development through clinical trials, regulatory approval and fundraising. The project was launched in March 2021, about five years and six months ago. The plan is to connect large biotech companies with universities, research institutes, hospitals and investors, giving early-stage firms access to facilities, equipment and partnership opportunities.
The Ministry of SMEs and Startups held the groundbreaking ceremony on the 30th at Yonsei University's International Campus in Songdo, Incheon. The hub will be built at 162-1 Songdo-dong with one basement level and nine floors above ground, spanning 20,375 square meters. The ministry plans to move 60 biotech startups in when the building is completed in November 2028.
Total project cost is about 224 billion won ($160 million). Yonsei University is providing the site and the Incheon city government is covering construction costs. The ministry, which oversees the project, will support the operating unit, research equipment and R&D programs.
The K-Bio Lab Hub is modeled on LabCentral, a nonprofit biotech startup support organization in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It offers shared laboratories and connects startups with large biotech companies and universities. In Korea, the project will build on the Songdo bio cluster, home to Celltrion (068270), Samsung Biologics (207940) and SK bioscience (302440).
By closely linking five groups — industry, universities, research institutes, hospitals and venture capital — the hub aims to produce more than 90 domestic network agreements, 50 global open innovation deals and 20 investment rounds by 2034.
Under a medium- to long-term operating roadmap released by the ministry, the first and second floors will house an operations control center and an area for high-cost specialized equipment, the third through seventh floors will provide support space for early-stage firms, and the eighth and ninth floors will serve growth-stage companies. The hub will also be equipped with 134 units of advanced research equipment across 59 types by the time it is completed.
Tenant companies will be offered joint R&D opportunities with large biotech firms and partner institutions such as Severance Hospital. To that end, the ministry will build an open innovation platform and introduce a "golden ticket" program under which participating large biotech companies directly recommend some candidate tenants.
Starting in 2029, the hub will run six specialized programs tailored to each stage of a company's growth. A total of 41.4 billion won will be invested in 60 companies to support them from drug candidate discovery through preclinical and clinical studies, regulatory approval and fundraising. A membership program will also be set up so that companies that are not tenants can use the research facilities, equipment and venture capital networks.
"What we are building today is not simply a research facility," said Lee So-young, minister of SMEs and startups. "The K-Bio Lab Hub will be a hub of connection that brings together the capabilities of industry, academia, research institutes and hospitals, fundamentally resolving the network gaps and cooperation costs that startups face."
Incheon Mayor Park Chan-dae said the city would "build a world-class biotech startup ecosystem where startups, anchor companies, universities, hospitals and investment institutions grow together, drawing on the strengths of the Songdo bio cluster."
