Celltrion partners with Japan's largest biotech cluster to nurture promising startups

Celltrion has teamed up with the Kobe Biomedical Innovation Cluster, Japan's largest biotech cluster, to launch the first Korea-Japan public-private open innovation program.

Celltrion said Tuesday it is moving ahead with the "2026 KBIC-Celltrion Global Scale-Up Program," kicking off with an in-person briefing at the LINK-J (Life Science Innovation Network Japan) building in Tokyo. It marks the first time a Korean pharmaceutical or biotech company has directly partnered with a Japanese biotech cluster to jointly plan and operate a public-private collaboration model.

The program aims to provide full-cycle support to biotech startups — from early-stage technology validation and refinement through to global commercialization.

Applications will be accepted from this month through December, with two finalist companies to be selected in March 2027 following document screening and presentation reviews. The program targets startups with innovative technologies in antibody, peptide, small-molecule compound and anti-aging fields that can be linked to Celltrion's research and development needs. The selected companies will take part in a tailored scale-up program throughout 2027.

Drawing on more than two decades of expertise in drug development, production and global direct sales, Celltrion will provide practical mentoring and technical advisory services covering research and development, regulatory approval and commercialization. The company also plans to connect participants with government agencies, local authorities, industry-academia cooperation bodies and venture capital networks, while exploring joint research opportunities with selected firms to identify next-generation pipeline candidates.

The Foundation for Biomedical Research and Innovation at Kobe, which operates KBIC, will offer customized acceleration for each company by matching them with experts in research and development, patents and intellectual property, investment attraction and business strategy. It will also hold one-on-one meetings with domestic and overseas investors and organize demo days to help early-stage research translate into actual entry into global markets.

The collaboration directly combines Japan's strong fundamental research capabilities with Celltrion's global clinical, production and commercialization strengths — addressing gaps in both countries' biotech ecosystems and accelerating the development of blockbuster drugs originating from Asia.

The initiative is the fruit of Celltrion's biotech networking efforts in Japan that began in 2023. The company has been involved in KBIC's global expansion support program, known as KLSAP, from the planning stage, and has broadened its ties with the local ecosystem by opening an office in Kobe, supporting Korean startups entering the Japanese market, and building partnerships with LINK-J and the Japan External Trade Organization.

"This will be a collaboration model that combines the strengths of Korea and Japan to help promising biotech startups grow," a Celltrion official said. "We will actively work to build an open innovation ecosystem so that young companies with innovative technologies can leap onto the world stage."