Hosted by Korea Health Industry Development Institute (President Kwon Soon-man) and Chungcheongbuk-do (Governor Lee Si-jong) and sponsored by the Ministry of Health and Welfare, BIO KOREA 2021 was held June 9-11 in COEX Seoul. In its 16th run this year, BIO KOREA has introduced the technological level of Korea's pharmaceutical and bio industries to the world.

This year, the emphasis was on collaboration with global institutions and companies. BIO KOREA 2021 examined innovative changes in technology and directions in the biohealth industry in response to the new normal era. Unlike last year’s BIO KOREA 2020, which was held online due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this year’s event was successfully held in a hybrid format with conferences, exhibitions, business forums, investment fairs, and job fair programs simultaneously held online and offline.

The ultimate goal of the “Post-BIO KOREA Special: Grasp the Korea-Australia business opportunity” is to promote collaboration opportunities between the two countries and investment in the Australian market.

The Australian Trade and Investment Commission of the Australian Embassy in Korea participated in BIO KOREA 2021 and introduced 28 Australian companies representing a wide range of capabilities in the bio field to the Korean market. A non-face-to-face interview was conducted with an official from Australia's major pharmaceutical consignment production and manufacturing company Patheon.

Q1. What kind of company is Patheon?

Thermo Fisher Scientific's pharmaceutical service Patheon is an industry-leading pharmaceutical product contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO), providing pharmaceutical and biotech companies of all sizes with drug development, early and late clinical stage formulation development and manufacturing, clinical trial services, and pharmaceutical production and supply services.

Patheon has extensive capabilities and expertise for drug substance and biopharmaceutical development and manufacturing based on a network of 65 production facilities around the world. It supports the entire process of drug development and production, including virus vector to develop cell genetic treatment drugs and vaccines, cGMP plasmid DNA manufacturing service, clinical trial solution, finished drug manufacturing, packaging, and integrated logistics services.

It currently has production facilities across the US, Europe, Asia and Australia, and continues to innovate to quickly actualize the potential of pharmaceuticals with customers based on quality, trust and compliance.

Q2. What are the changes and achievements after Bio Korea 2021?

We opened a booth to introduce CDMO service at Bio Korea 2021. After Patheon was acquired by Thermo Fisher Scientific in 2017, it was the first time to operate a booth named Thermo Fisher, and it was a good opportunity to introduce the CDMO service of the Thermo Fisher brand in Korea. Also, a number of business meetings were held during the exhibition period.

Q3. The Australian government is providing support to the biohealth industry, including direct investment in health and medical research and providing R&D support programs. As a company, what do you find attractive about partnering and expanding business with Australia?

The Australian government is implementing an incentive that grants eligible biotech companies a tax offset of up to 43.5% on R&D expenses, including clinical trials. With this tax preferential policy, if clinical trials are conducted in Australia, the cost can be cut in half compared to the US.

Thermo Fisher has a biopharmaceutical manufacturing facility in Brisbane, Australia. The tax incentive is available to companies using the Brisbane manufacturing facility, which helps small and medium-sized Korean bio-ventures get tax benefits. After successfully completing a clinical trial in Australia, it becomes relatively easy to enter the overseas markets such as the United States or Europe. Because of these advantages, many Korean companies are choosing Australia as the country to conduct clinical trials.

The company is also supported by Trade and Investment Queensland (TIQ), which has an office in Korea.

Q4. Is there is an issue regarding business revitalization between Korea and Australia?

For Korean bio companies, Australia is a land of opportunity. The Australian government's tax benefits and the similar time zone with Korea act as great advantages for Korean companies. In addition, Australia is a multi-racial country, and the reliability of clinical data is high.

Many Korean companies are conducting clinical trials in Australia using the Australian Clinical Trial Notification (CTN), and more and more companies are conducting clinical trials this way. Also, Australia's CTN system allows clinical trials to proceed two to three months faster than FDA. Korea is an active country in the development of innovative new drugs, and we are expecting that the opportunities for cooperation between Korea and Australia will increase even more.

Q5. Lastly, what would you like to say to the Korean companies?

Many companies want to enter the market quickly and succeed by accelerating the speed of entry and accelerating development. However, balancing between speed and risk and projected demand in the future is difficult. Thermo Fisher's Quick to Clinic™ is an initial development accelerating solution designed for biopharmaceutical companies, enabling completion of the phase from transfection to clinical trial plan approval in just 13 months, speeding up the licensing submissions and clinical entry.

Also, we hope that Korean biopharmaceutical companies can achieve remarkable results in Australia by actively taking advantage of innovative solutions that reduce initial development time such as Quick to Clinic™, and various support benefits from the Australian government.

The Australian Trade and Investment Commission of the Australian Embassy in Korea provides various services for Australian companies to successfully enter overseas markets through a global network. It is also engaging in activities to attract foreign direct investment to Australia and overseas marketing of the Australian education sector. It is in charge of helping cooperation with Australian companies when needed.