Japan-based iPark Institute and Korea’s Osong Medical Innovation Foundation, a public institution in South Korea are commencing full-fledged collaborative activities, building on a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed in January this year.

Shonan iPark will begin accepting dispatches from KBIOHealth this month, and iPark Institute will also dispatch an employee to KBIOHealth in May this year.

Since its opening, Shonan Health Innovation Park (Shonan iPark) has been strengthening its partnerships with science parks and incubation centres in Japan and abroad under its mission of “build a life science ecosystem that is open to the world”.

The MoU states that the two companies will cooperate in the following areas: (1) exchanging experts through dispatches, (2) establishing an external liaison office, (3) participating in internal seminars, and (4) giving priority invitations to special seminars and speaker privileges. The commencing of personnel exchanges falls under areas (1) and (2).

In addition to collaboration between organisations, they aim to build deeper exchanges by sharing expertise and experience through the dispatching of staff members to both organizations’ sites.

iPark Institute will network with Korean bio-venture companies and VC firms, participation in Bio Korea (May), and introduction of Japanese biotech ventures; while KBIOHealth will engage in science park management operations (holding events, etc.), pilot a research support programme for Japanese and Korean ventures, networking with Japanese bio-ventures and VC firms, and introduction of Korean biotech ventures.

Image caption- Toshio Fujimoto (L), CEO, iPark Institute; and Sang-hoon Cha, CEO, KBIOHealth