Celltrion Teams With Japan's Largest Biocluster to Find Startups

Celltrion (068270.KS) is joining forces with the Kobe Biomedical Innovation Cluster (KBIC), Japan's largest biocluster, to identify promising biotech startups. The plan is to combine Japan's strength in basic research with Celltrion's experience in drug development and global commercialization, extending the partnership toward securing next-generation pipeline assets.

Celltrion said on the 8th that it held an in-person briefing at the Tokyo offices of LINK-J (Life Science Innovation Network Japan) to launch the 2026 KBIC-Celltrion Global Scale-Up Program.

It marks the first Korea-Japan public-private open innovation program jointly designed and operated with a Japanese biocluster. The goal extends beyond technology validation and refinement for promising startups to supporting their global commercialization.

Applications open this month and run through December. After document and presentation reviews, two companies will be selected in March next year. The program targets biotech startups with innovative technologies that can be linked to Celltrion's technology needs, spanning antibodies, peptides, small-molecule compounds and anti-aging. The selected companies will take part in a tailored development program throughout 2027 aimed at strengthening their technological and business capabilities.

Drawing on more than two decades of experience in the biopharmaceutical business, Celltrion will provide mentoring and technical advice across the entire process from research and development to regulatory approval, manufacturing and global commercialization. It will also tap networks it has built with the central government, local governments, industry-academia cooperation bodies and venture capital firms. The company is also considering joint research with promising firms, with the aim of translating the program into tangible results such as the discovery of next-generation pipeline candidates.

The Foundation for Biomedical Research and Innovation at Kobe (FBRI), which operates KBIC, will handle tailored acceleration for each startup. It will connect companies with specialists in R&D, patents and intellectual property, investment and business strategy to provide consulting. It will also arrange opportunities to attract investment through one-on-one meetings with Korean investment firms and demo days.

Celltrion expects synergies from combining Japan's basic research capabilities and infrastructure with its own experience in global commercialization. Rather than stopping at equity investment or technology acquisition, the company plans to build a long-term partnership ecosystem with promising startups and widen the points of contact between the Korean and Japanese biotech industries.

A Celltrion official said the program will serve as a cooperation model that combines the strengths of Korea and Japan to support the growth of promising biotech startups. "We will actively work to create an open innovation ecosystem so that young companies with innovative technologies can leap into global markets," the official said.