K-BIO expands its presence at the international convention

Securing new CDMO deals and holding numerous meetings

BIO USA 2025 was held in Boston, USA, from June 16 to 19…discussed partnership opportunities with global firms

Promoted Korean CDMO technology capabilities…Lotte Biologics secures new contract

Celltrion focuses on ADC-based new drugs…unveiled clinical accomplishments related to immunotherapy and multispecific antibodies

Korean pharmaceutical and biotech companies showed their presence at the BIO International Convention 2025 (BIO USA 2025), the world's largest biotech business event.

 

Major domestic pharmaceutical and biotech firms from South Korea attended the BIO USA 2025, held in Boston, USA, from June 16 to 19, showcasing their new drug pipelines and Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization (CDMO) technological capabilities.

 

According to the Korea BIO on June 21, over 20,000 participants from 70 countries attended this year's BIO USA.

 

Among them, the number of Korean attendees exceeded 1,300, marking the third consecutive year that South Korea has been the largest participating country from overseas.

 

BIO USA is the world's largest pharmaceutical and bio exhibition, serving as a platform for global pharmaceutical and biotech companies and research institutions to explore opportunities for new drug pipelines, technology transfer, and collaborative research.

 

Over 300 Korean companies participated in this year's event.

 

Samsung Biologics expressed its commitment to expanding collaborations with global pharmaceutical companies through this event.

 

Samsung Biologics plans to increase its production capacity by securing drug manufacturing contracts from pharmaceutical companies ranked among the top 20 to top 40 globally.

 

Samsung Biologics has signed a total of 5 new contracts based on public disclosures this year alone.

 

Starting with a $1.41 billion (approximately KRW 2 trillion) contract signed with a European pharmaceutical company in January, the company continued to secure new orders globally, including those from the U.S., Asia, and Europe.

 

Samsung Biologics currently holds 17 out of the top 20 global pharmaceutical companies as clients.

 

Through core competencies based on overwhelming production capacity, quality, and numerous track records, its cumulative total orders since its establishment have exceeded approximately $18.2 billion.

 

Lotte Biologics announced the securing of new contracts through BIO USA.

 

The company held a Contract Manufacturing Organization (CMO) agreement signing ceremony for antibody drugs with the British biopharmaceutical company Ottimo Pharma.

 

This ceremony took place at the Lotte Biologics booth at the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center in the United States.

 

Lotte Biologics announced the securing of new contracts through BIO USA

Through this agreement, Lotte Biologics will produce the drug substance (DS) for Ottimo Pharma's new antibody drug, 'Jankistomig,' at its biotech campus in Syracuse, New York.

 

Ottimo Pharma is a company developing a new drug with a PD1/VEGFR2 bispecific antibody mechanism, aiming to extend the lives of patients with cancer.

 

Established in 2020, it has offices in the UK.

 

Lotte Biologics offers CDMO services at the Syracuse biotech campus, including drug cell line development and large-scale contract manufacturing.

 

Furthermore, it aims to operate Plant 1 within its Songdo Bio Campus starting in 2027.

 

Plant 1 is a large-scale biopharmaceutical manufacturing facility with a production capacity of 120,000 liters, enabling it to secure significant global contracts.

 

Celltrion held over 150 meetings at this event, discussing various collaboration strategies with global pharmaceutical and bio-companies.

 

Notably, beyond CDMO and biosimilars, the company showcased various potential partnership opportunities for its pipelines under development, including antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs), multispecific antibodies, novel antibodies, and peptide new drugs.

 

Celltrion also discussed open innovation aimed at finding promising technologies related to new drug development.

 

Celltrion plans to thoroughly review the meetings held at this BIO USA to identify potential collaborators with growth potential and capabilities.

 

Celltrion is pursuing the development of new ADC drugs.

 

Earlier this year, Celltrion disclosed the preclinical results of its ADC candidate 'CT-P71'.

 

CT-P71 utilized the ADC platform of the Korean ADC development company Pinotbio.

 

CT-P71 is an ADC therapeutic agent under development targeting general solid tumors, including bladder cancer.

 

It targets Nectin-4, a cell surface protein overexpressed in various solid tumors such as urothelial carcinoma and breast cancer.

 

Celltrion also received approval for a Phase 1 clinical trial of CT-P70.

 

CT-P70 is an ADC therapeutic agent targeting solid tumors such as non-small cell lung cancer, specifically targeting 'c-MET,' which, when activated in cancer cells, induces tumor growth.

 

Korean companies promoted R&D competitiveness for new drug development This year, 51 companies participated in the Korea Section, operated by the Korea Bio Association, introducing technologies and pipelines across the entire biotech industry, including contract manufacturing, clinical services, materials/components/equipment business, new drug development, and platforms.

 

Over 450 consultations were held throughout the exhibition hall.

 

Notably, 24 pre-registered companies garnered attention from global partners through technology presentations at the Open Stage within the Korea Section.

 

This year, both the number of participating companies and the exhibition space expanded compared to the previous year.

 

A special area for materials, components, and equipment business was also operated separately, showcasing the competitiveness of Korea's biotech industry supply chain.

 

Photo of BIO USA 2025 Korea Section (source=Korea BIO organization)

In this event, Korean companies also focused on promoting their competitiveness in new drug development.

 

Through BIO USA, Aptamer Sciences actively discussed strategic collaborations with major ADC-specialized companies in North America, Europe, and China, exploring concrete cooperation opportunities such as joint development, clinical collaboration, expansion into new indications, and technology transfer.

 

Aptamer Sciences has proprietary ADC platform technology, ApDC (Aptamer Drug Conjugate).

 

ApDC is a next-generation precision drug delivery platform that utilizes aptamers instead of antibodies, using an in-house modified nucleic acid technology.

 

According to Aptamer Sciences, anti-cancer drugs developed using the ApDC platform have demonstrated various advantages in comparative experiments with ADC anti-cancer drugs, including rapid drug action through quick internalization into target cells after surface binding, excellent permeability into tumor tissue, rapid targeting after administration in animal models, and consequently, superior anti-tumor efficacy.

 

Currently, Aptamer Sciences is expanding its platform to allow conjugation with various mechanisms of action beyond cytotoxic drugs, including radioisotopes, targeted protein degraders (TPDs), and immunostimulants.

 

GI Innovation introduced its new pipelines and global business strategy as its next growth engines.

 

GI Innovation unveiled its GI-128, which utilizes macrophages (a next-generation target gaining attention in the immunotherapy field), along with a trispecific pipeline that aims to surpass the rapidly emerging aPD-(L)1/VEGF bispecific antibodies in the global market.

 

GI Innovation's newly introduced pipeline features a trispecific antibody structure that fuses a self-discovered aPD-L1 antibody with a VEGF antibody and a macrophage engager.

 

It is evaluated as having a differentiated mechanism of action by overcoming the limitations of bispecific antibodies and activating tumor-immune responses.

 

SK Biopharmaceuticals is engaging in artificial intelligence (AI)-driven drug discovery through a business agreement with PhnyX Lab.

 

Through this agreement, the two companies plan to jointly develop customized solutions based on PhnyX Lab's generative AI solution 'Cheiron', automating tasks such as literature search, data analysis, and document creation required in the new drug development process.

 

The agreement signing ceremony took place at the SK Biopharmaceuticals exhibition booth.

 

(from left) Changho Yu, SK Pharmaceuticals VP/Chief Strategy Officer & Head of Strategy Division and Minseok Bae, CEO of PhnyX Lab

Notably, SK Biopharmaceuticals plans to accelerate its 'AI Transformation' of the new drug development process, primarily focusing on automating tasks such as preparing regulatory documents required at the clinical entry stage, thereby advancing it with the use of AI.

 

Through this, SK Biopharmaceuticals aims to maximize R&D productivity and significantly reduce the time and cost associated with development and approval.

 

Samjin Pharmaceutical, making its first official corporate presentation at this year's BIO USA, showcased its competitiveness in developing new anti-cancer drugs, including ADCs.

 

Currently, the company is developing various candidates, including ▲solid tumor therapeutic candidates 'SJN301' and 'SJN309' ▲antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) projects 'SJA20' and 'SJA70' ▲immune/inflammatory disease therapeutic candidate 'SJN314'.