April 26, 2024

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[THE INVESTOR] Robert Urban, head of Johnson & Johnson Innovation, is visiting Seoul this week to meet a few biotechnology companies in Korea where the company is seeking to create a partnering office.

Johnson & Johnson Innovation, a strategic venture arm of US drug maker Johnson & Johnson, operates innovation centers around the world to seek synergies with regional academics, entrepreneurs and startups. 

Robert Urban

“I will discuss Korea’s health care ecosystem and the US drug giant’s innovation platform with four to five biopharmaceutical companies and investor groups,” he told The Investor at a pharmaceutical conference in Seoul. He declined to name the firms.

Urban picked “very strong biologics” as the key competitiveness of Korea’s biopharmaceutical industry, saying, “Great science is being worked on here such as stem cell biology and regenerative medicine.”

His visit comes after Johnson & Johnson Innovation signed a non-binding agreement with the Korea Health Industry Development Institute in February to set up a partnering office in Seoul to cooperate for fostering startups that have promising biotech.

By Park Han-na (hnpark@heraldcorp.com)