Prestige Biopharma Breaks Ground on R&D Center in Busan

Prestige Biopharma, a biopharmaceutical company specializing in antibody therapeutics, announced on the 20th that it will break ground on its Innovative Discovery Centre (IDC) in Busan.

The groundbreaking ceremony, scheduled for the 21st, will be attended by key government officials, including Kim Yoon-il, Vice Mayor for Economic Affairs of Busan Metropolitan City; Jong-young Jung, Director General for Investment Policy at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy; Seok-ho Cha, Head of Administration and Development at the Busan-Jinhae Free Economic Zone Authority; Hyo-kyung Yoon, Head of Global Business Division at Korea Land and Housing Corporation; and Sang-hyun Jang, Commissioner of Invest Korea at KOTRA.

The Busan IDC is a large-scale R&D center that Prestige Biopharma has been pursuing since signing a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Busan Metropolitan Government in May. Supported by both the central government and the city, the center is targeted for completion in February 2023.

The facility will be constructed in Myeongji International New City in Gangseo-gu, Busan, with a total floor area of approximately 34,000 square meters. The IDC will conduct innovative drug discovery research, including the development of various antibody therapeutics and the identification of new therapeutic targets. The center will focus on eight bispecific antibody pipelines based on Prestige Biopharma’s proprietary platform technologies, including PAUF and CTHRC1, which are key targets in oncology.

In addition, the IDC aims to lead next-generation biopharmaceutical platform technologies by advancing mRNA vaccine development for emerging infectious diseases and conducting biomarker discovery through big data analysis.

The Busan IDC will also serve as a new model for industry-academia-research collaboration, featuring a venture convergence center where universities, research institutes, industry partners, and aspiring entrepreneurs can collaborate and innovate. Advanced research infrastructure, such as Industrial Attachment programs for training local graduates into global talent and Plug & Play-type shared labs supporting regional biotech startups from R&D to commercialization, is expected to establish the IDC as a key hub for scientific innovation in Korea.

Over the next five years, the IDC is expected to employ approximately 250 highly qualified researchers with master’s and doctoral degrees, with more than half recruited locally, contributing to job creation in the Busan and Gyeongnam regions. Prestige Biopharma Group also plans to actively collaborate with local governments and related institutions to promote regional development.

Soyeon Park, CEO of Prestige Biopharma, stated, “The Busan IDC will serve as a critical global R&D infrastructure leading the group’s innovative research efforts. We will actively support it to become a hub for global open innovation through collaboration with our research centers in the United States and Singapore, as well as partnerships with academia and industry.” She added, “We hope that through the IDC, many innovative drugs that save lives will be developed, and that the Busan-Gyeongnam region will emerge as a biopharmaceutical R&D hub comparable to Boston in the United States.”

 Heong-joon Park, Mayor of Busan, commented, “At a time when economic activity remains heavily concentrated in the capital region, the establishment of a research base in the future growth industry of biopharmaceuticals in our region is highly welcome. We expect this R&D center to invigorate high value-added industries and create quality jobs, and the city will provide full support to expand this into a model of balanced growth among industry, academia, and research.”

Reference: EToday (https://www.etoday.co.kr/news/view/2088423)