Construction Begins on 'K

Completion Scheduled for January 2029 at Yonsei University International Campus Home to 60 Bio Startups Building a Platform Connecting Research, Entrepreneurship, and Investment

With the commencement of the construction of the 'K-Bio Lab Hub,' a bio and pharmaceutical startup incubation facility in Songdo International City, Incheon, the formation of a bio startup cluster has gained momentum.

The Incheon Free Economic Zone Authority announced on the 30th that it had held a groundbreaking ceremony for the K-Bio Lab Hub at the Yonsei University International Campus site in Songdo. With a total project cost of 217.3 billion won, the K-Bio Lab Hub will consist of one basement level and nine floors above ground, with a total floor area of 20,375 square meters. The target completion date is January 2029.

This facility is being established as a national bio startup support base, modeled after LabCentral, a bio startup support organization in Boston, USA, aiming to provide comprehensive support for the entire growth cycle of bio startups.

Songdo in Incheon was selected as the project site in 2021 through a public competition by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups. The progress of the project was further solidified in 2023, when the ministry took overall charge, the city of Incheon agreed to build the research facility, and Yonsei University pledged to provide the land free of charge through a business agreement.

K-Bio Lab Hub bird's-eye view. Provided by Incheon Economic Free Zone Authority

Once the facility is completed, approximately 60 small and medium-sized bio venture companies will move in to jointly utilize high-value research equipment and receive support at each growth stage, from candidate discovery to preclinical and clinical trials, regulatory approval, and investment attraction.

In particular, it is expected that there will be significant synergy with the bioindustry infrastructure already concentrated in Songdo, Incheon. Incheon hosts various industry, academia, research, and hospital resources—including Celltrion, Samsung Biologics, Samsung Bioepis, SK bioscience, Lotte Biologics, and Yonsei Severance Hospital—fostering an even stronger collaborative ecosystem among startups, universities, hospitals, companies, and investment institutions.

The Incheon city government plans to build on its world-class bio-manufacturing base by further expanding an industrial ecosystem that connects research, entrepreneurship, investment, and talent development, aiming to transform into a global bio hub where innovation and startup activity flourish, beyond just production.

Incheon Mayor Park Chandae stated, "With the groundbreaking of the Lab Hub, we plan to create more quality jobs by adding startups and new drug development to the bio manufacturing base. We will also actively pursue the establishment of the Incheon Institute of Bio-Science and Technology to nurture highly skilled researchers and develop core technologies."

During his time as a member of the National Assembly, Mayor Park spearheaded the enactment of the 'Incheon Institute of Bio-Science and Technology Act.' The purpose of the bill is to establish the institute for training talent in the advanced bio-science and technology fields, promoting industry-academia cooperative research tailored to industrial sites, transferring technology and commercialization, and supporting startups.

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