Korea's largest bio fair opens with 300 companies and Canada as guest country

South Korea's industry ministry said Wednesday that BioPlus-Interphex Korea 2026, the country's largest bio-industry trade show, opened at Coex in Seoul with about 300 companies taking part, the biggest edition yet.

The three-day event, hosted by the Korea Bio Association and organised by RX Korea, is held under the theme "Connecting the Global Biopharma Value Chain" and runs through Oct. 30. It brings together global contract development and manufacturing organisations and equipment suppliers, including Lonza, Sartorius, Thermo Fisher and Merck, alongside Korean drugmakers such as Samsung Biologics, Hanmi Pharmaceutical and Binex.

The show was planned as competition in the pharmaceutical and bio sector shifts from technology itself toward commercialisation, production and global partnering, with the aim of linking the entire value chain from drug development through manufacturing.

This year's edition exceeds the 2025 show, which drew 277 companies from 14 countries, 550 booths and 9,749 visitors. The 2026 event is using about 600 booths and has more than 30 conference sessions with over 90 speakers.

Canada is the guest country of honour, sending a delegation of some 30 bio and healthcare companies that will take part in exhibitions, conference sessions and open-stage presentations.

The programme covers artificial intelligence-based drug discovery, next-generation therapies, global investment and mergers and acquisitions, overseas market entry and regulatory trends, with a dedicated AI bio zone.

"South Korea has the world's largest biopharmaceutical manufacturing capacity and is expanding its reach into global markets," Lee Min-woo, head of the ministry's industrial growth office, said in a speech at the opening ceremony. "I hope BIX goes beyond simple information sharing and exchange to become a starting point for open innovation."