SMEs ministry breaks ground on K-Bio Lab Hub in Songdo

The SMEs ministry said Wednesday it broke ground on the K-Bio Lab Hub, a national bio startup support complex in Songdo, Incheon, that will house 60 innovative bio companies when it opens in November 2028.

Modeled on LabCentral, the Boston-based support organization for bio startups, the hub will concentrate drug-development space, research equipment, R&D programs and global expansion support in one place. The ceremony at the construction site inside Yonsei University's International Campus drew about 200 attendees, including the SMEs minister, the second vice health minister, Incheon Mayor Park Chan-dae and Yonsei President Yoon Dong-sup.

The project is a joint effort between the central government, the Incheon city government and academia. Yonsei University is providing the site, Incheon is funding construction, and the SMEs ministry is covering the operation of the project office, the buildout of research equipment and R&D program budgets.

The ministry plans to bring in 24 units of 17 types of general-purpose research equipment by October for use in temporary space at Yonsei's International Campus, then install 134 units across 59 types of advanced equipment as the building is completed. The finished complex will place an operations control room and high-cost specialty equipment zones on the first two floors, 50 spaces for early-stage companies on floors three through seven, and 10 spaces for growth-stage companies on floors eight and nine.

Tenant selection will begin in 2028, when the building is finished. The ministry will introduce a "golden ticket" system under which anchor companies directly recommend promising candidates for evaluation, and will build an open innovation platform linking industry, academia, research institutes, hospitals and venture capital.

The hub is expected to form a network among startups, universities, anchor companies and hospitals by connecting with five bio cluster bases in Songdo, including Celltrion, Samsung Biologics, SK Bioscience, Lotte Biologics and Yonsei Severance Hospital.

Starting in 2029, the ministry plans to run six specialized programs covering candidate material discovery through preclinical and clinical trials, licensing and investment attraction, providing 41.4 billion won ($30.5 million) to 60 companies. A membership system will let companies outside the hub use its infrastructure, venture capital networks and data analysis, with reinvested income intended to support the project's financial independence after government support ends.

"The K-Bio Lab Hub will become a key cradle for South Korean bio startups to be reborn as global unicorn companies," SMEs Minister Lee So-young said. "Starting with the groundbreaking, we will gather the capabilities of partner organizations to build a world-class bio startup hub."

Incheon Mayor Park Chan-dae said the hub is core infrastructure that will lead Korea's bio future. "Incheon will leverage the strengths of the Songdo bio cluster to create a global bio startup ecosystem where startups, anchor companies, universities, hospitals and investors grow together," he said.

The project was confirmed in March 2021 at the sixth Innovative Growth BIG3 promotion meeting, and Songdo was selected as the final site after a public competition. It cleared a preliminary feasibility study in August 2022.