Korea trade body backs AI biotech startups' push into US market

The Korea International Trade Association held a "DISCOVER AI × LIFE SCIENCES" event at the Hard Rock Hotel in San Diego on Tuesday (local time) to support South Korean AI-based biotech startups seeking to enter the US market, the association announced Wednesday.

The event was organized in conjunction with BIO USA 2026, the world's largest biotech exhibition, to give AI-driven biotech companies from South Korea and around the world opportunities to forge strategic partnerships and attract investment from US firms and investors.

Hosted by the association's Dallas branch and co-organized by the Consulate General of Korea in Los Angeles, Seoul National University's Industry-Academic Cooperation Foundation, and the association's North Chungcheong branch, the event drew about 80 participants, including representatives from global startups, research institutes, universities, hospitals and investment firms. The program featured an expert panel discussion, presentations of products and technologies by global biotech startups, and a networking session.

The expert panel, held under the theme "The Intersection of AI and Life Sciences," brought together biotech industry leaders from Silicon Valley to discuss the latest AI applications in the startup ecosystem and the challenges ahead. Participants included community development and business managers from SynBioBeta, a global synthetic biology media platform, and Deep Origin, a leading AI drug development company.

The subsequent pitching session featured 10 AI biotech startups across four fields — drug development, bio intelligence, neuroscience and healthcare — showcasing their innovations. Five South Korean companies participated, including Portrary, Eigendrug and BioResearch AI, presenting the technological strengths and vision of K-biotech.

The networking session brought together more than 30 promising global startups and venture capital firms from major US biotech hubs — including Silicon Valley, San Diego and Boston — to discuss collaboration and investment opportunities. Representatives from major global pharmaceutical companies and medical institutions, including Pfizer, AbbVie, Labcorp and Cleveland Clinic, also attended, as did AI industry players such as Nvidia, all exploring partnership opportunities with promising startups.

"This event was designed to expand the connection between promising South Korean companies and the local biotech ecosystem in San Diego, the heart of the global biotech industry, in line with the trend of convergence between AI and life sciences," said Kim Gyeong-hun, head of the Dallas branch. "We plan to continue actively supporting South Korean biotech startups' entry into the US market by creating opportunities for exchange with major US biotech companies and institutions through DISCOVER, the Dallas branch's new strategic industry support platform."

Meanwhile, the Korea International Trade Association has been actively working to nurture and support the domestic startup ecosystem across various sectors — including co-hosting NextRise 2026, Seoul, a leading Asian startup fair, with Korea Development Bank at Coex in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, on June 18.

NextRise is a flagship South Korean startup event that the Korea International Trade Association and Korea Development Bank have co-hosted since 2019 to promote the growth and globalization of the domestic startup ecosystem.