KHIDI Hosts 'Korea Biohealth Research & Commercialization Collaboration Day' in Boston, USA (Sep.24.2026)
Over 500 Korean and American researchers and industry professionals in attendance
Tailored solutions offered: from securing research grants to cross-border technology transactions
The Korea Health Industry Development Institute (KHIDI, President Sang-baek Koh) USA Office announced that it hosted the "Korea Biohealth R&BD (Research & Business Development) Night" on Thursday, September 24 (local time) at the Cambridge Innovation Center (CIC) in Boston, the world’s largest biotech cluster.
The event drew a full house of over 500 biohealth researchers, entrepreneurs, and industry leaders active across the Boston and Cambridge areas. Participants shared practical, on-the-ground challenges regarding securing research funding, technology commercialization, and global partnership initiatives, while exploring strategies to enhance the global competitiveness of Korea's biohealth sector.
The program featured:
A Seminar on Korea’s Research & Development (R&D) Investment Directions
A Grant Writing Seminar for Research Proposals
A Biohealth Business Development (BD) Meetup
Networking sessions at promotional booths hosted by the KHIDI USA Office and the Advanced Bio Strategic Hub Center
The following day, Friday, September 25, featured a follow-up program: the "Customized Grant Proposal Consulting Day."
[Seminar on Korea’s R&D Investment Directions]
Healthcare, SME, and Industrial Technology R&D: All in One Place at a Glance
Co-hosted by the KHIDI USA Office (Director Hyun-cheol Kim), the Korea Technology and Information Promotion Agency for SMEs (TIPA) USA Office (Director Hoon-bae Lee), and the Korea Evaluation Institute of Industrial Technology (KEIT) Boston Office (Director Jae-keun Kim), the "Seminar on Korea’s R&D Investment Directions" outlined the Korean government's R&D funding and investment priorities for 2027.
Each agency provided detailed briefings on core investment areas along with eligibility requirements, application procedures, and key considerations for international joint research programs open to overseas researchers and companies. Attendees noted that having dispersed Korean R&D funding information gathered and compared in one place was of substantial help in formulating local capital and research roadmaps.
[R&D Proposal Writing Seminar & Consulting Day]
From Korean R&D to NIH & SBIR: Practical Securing Strategies from Industry Practitioners
In the subsequent "R&D Proposal Writing Seminar," KHIDI USA Director Hyun-cheol Kim, Director Bekay Ahn of the Institute of Charitable Non-Profit Management (ICNPM), CTO Sung-hwan Cho of GelTech Labs, and Professor Yeon-sik Choi of Yonsei University took the stage to walk attendees through the entire grant lifecycle—from preparation to addressing evaluation panels.
Director Hyun-cheol Kim presented strategies for drafting proposals and responding to review comments for Korean R&D programs.
Director Bekay Ahn focused on the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) flagship investigator-initiated grant (R01), outlining tactics to turn reviewer concerns into actionable project refinements.
CTO Sung-hwan Cho shared phase-by-phase (Phase I & II) proposal tactics for the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program.
Professor Yeon-sik Choi covered effective methods for leveraging the Pathway to Independence Award (K99/R00) for postdoctoral researchers transitioning to independent investigators.
This strong interest carried over into the "Customized Grant Proposal Consulting Day" held on September 25. Seven selected Korean-American researchers and entrepreneurs affiliated with institutions such as Harvard Medical School, MIT, and Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) participated in intensive 3-to-1 mentoring sessions, where three speakers provided dedicated consultation to each participant. The sessions addressed everything from problem formulation in the early stages of research planning to analyzing reviewer comments and revising proposals for resubmission.
[Biohealth Business Development (BD) Meetup]
Technology Licensing and Deal Strategies from Buyer (Big Pharma) and Seller (Biotech) Perspectives
Under the theme of "Biopharmaceutical Technology Transactions," business development professionals from global big pharma and biotech companies shared first-hand transaction and M&A insights.
Speakers analyzed big pharma's growing tendency to focus investments on de-risked assets ahead of impending large-scale patent cliffs.
David Jay Lee, Director at BioNTech, detailed gap-analysis methodologies for big pharma portfolios and risk-sharing deal structures.
Seok-won Ham, Team Lead at Txinno Bioscience, presented packaging strategies that validate the enterprise value of technology assets through targeted, objective-oriented data.
During the panel discussion, Khaled Zemoura, Head at Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, and fellow panelists discussed deal structuring and navigating due diligence. They highlighted the security and legal risks of analyzing confidential data with third-party generative AI tools, noting the emerging industry trend where confidentiality agreements (CDAs) from major pharmaceutical companies increasingly incorporate restrictions on AI usage.
[Networking Session & Future Plans]
Following the formal sessions, a networking reception took place around promotional booths for the KHIDI USA Office and the Advanced Bio Strategic Hub Center, where local market entry support programs were showcased and prospective cross-border collaborations were discussed.
Hyun-cheol Kim, Director of the KHIDI USA Office, stated:
"Seeing the venue filled with more than 500 researchers and business leaders truly demonstrated the intense interest in Korean biohealth on the ground. Serving as an advanced bio strategic hub, we will continue to bridge the local Boston ecosystem with Korean research and industry, doing our utmost to help our scientists and enterprises achieve tangible success in global markets."
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