LINC 3.0 (Leaders in Industry-university Cooperation 3.0) jointly held the Investment Forum for Promising Bio Ventures and Startups with the Korea Drug Research Association at the KINTEX exhibition center in Ilsan, Gyeonggi, on April 25 and 26.
This event was organized to attract investment for Korea’s biopharmaceutical startups, facilitate M&A, encourage open innovation, and assist startup expansion into the global pharmaceutical market. It was attended by 16 promising biopharmaceutical startups as well as over 200 interested parties, including analysts and fund managers from securities firms, consulting firms, and venture capital companies.
KU’s three campus startups also participated in the investment forum, namely NeuroXT Inc. (CEO: Professor Kim Dong-joo of the Department of Brain and Cognitive Engineering), which is developing customized sleep management electroceuticals; Microgentas Inc. (CEO: Professor Shin Se-hyun of the Department of Mechanical Engineering), which is developing an exosome nucleic acid-based breast cancer diagnostic technology; and Astrion Inc. (CEO: Professor Park Jae-yong of the College of Health Science), which is developing a first-in-class synthetic drug for treating glioblastoma and intractable brain diseases. They were in attendance in order to engage in investor relations (IR) activities, and they attracted much attention from the researchers and investors in the pharmaceutical field.
Yoo Hyuck, the Executive Vice President for Research at KU and the LINC 3.0 program leader, said “With the forum giving us momentum, we will provide our full support to KU’s biopharmaceutical startups so that they can attract investment from within Korea and from other countries, commercialize their R&D platforms, and expand into the global market.”