Samsung Biologics is partnering with Eli Lilly of the United States to establish a domestic base for a world-class open innovation program in Korea.

Samsung Biologics announced on the 10th that it has signed an open innovation partnership with Eli Lilly to foster promising Korean biotech companies.

Under the agreement, a new base of the open innovation program “Lilly Gateway Labs (LGL)” will be established in Songdo International City, Incheon. This marks the first case in which a high-level corporate incubation program run by a global big pharma company enters Korea in cooperation with a domestic company. For LGL, Songdo, Korea has been selected as its second overseas base after China.

LGL is a global open innovation program launched by Eli Lilly in 2019 to foster outstanding biotech companies. It provides comprehensive support needed for the growth of emerging biotech firms, ranging from state-of-the-art office and laboratory facilities to research and development (R&D) collaboration, mentoring, direct investment, and assistance in attracting external investment.

Recently, LGL and other major global open innovation programs have reportedly been pushing ahead with entry into Korea, focusing on the high technological capabilities and growth potential of the Korean bioindustry. LGL, which had been exploring a move into the Korean market, is said to have decided to enter the country through cooperation with Samsung Biologics after confirming Samsung’s strong commitment to supporting biotech companies.

In particular, LGL is a program that directly selects biotech firms with strong potential and provides support such as direct and indirect investment and connections to joint research, thereby expanding opportunities for promising Korean biotech companies to enter global markets. Since its launch, LGL is reported to have attracted total investment of approximately KRW 4,412.1 billion (USD 3 billion). It has also achieved meaningful results, including the acceleration of more than 50 new drug development projects.

The new LGL base in Korea is scheduled to be located in “C-Lab Outside,” a new open innovation center to be completed next year at Samsung Biologics’ Second Bio Campus in Songdo, Incheon. Samsung Biologics and Eli Lilly plan to carry out a range of collaborative initiatives to invigorate the K-bio ecosystem, including jointly managing overall operations and selecting and nurturing 30 resident companies for C-Lab Outside.

Samsung Biologics plans to use this cooperation with Eli Lilly as an opportunity to elevate C-Lab Outside’s biotech incubation capabilities to a global level. C-Lab Outside is scheduled for completion in July next year and will be built as a five-story above-ground facility with a total floor area of 12,000㎡ (approximately 3,500 pyeong).
A Samsung Biologics official said, “C-Lab Outside, Samsung’s external startup incubation program, is expected to serve as an opportunity to expand into the bioindustry ecosystem,” adding, “C-Lab Outside, which began at Samsung Electronics in 2018, expanded to Samsung Financial C-Lab Outside within the Samsung Financial Network in 2024, and with this latest move into the bioindustry, it will be reborn as a program that discovers and nurtures startups across an even wider range of industries.”

In addition to C-Lab Outside, Samsung Biologics has been pursuing a variety of efforts to support the K-bio ecosystem. These include investing in promising domestic and overseas biotech companies through the Samsung Life Science Fund; co-prosperity seminars for domestic biotech firms; strengthening industry-academia cooperation to foster bio-specialized talent; and promoting localization of raw and subsidiary materials, in order to maximize synergies with domestic industry. The company also plans to explore various measures for the growth of the domestic bioecosystem in cooperation with organizations such as the Incheon Free Economic Zone Authority (IFEZ).

John Rim, CEO of Samsung Biologics, said, “This collaboration with Eli Lilly will serve as a foundation for the growth of promising Korean biotech companies through the excellent open innovation capabilities of a global big pharma company,” adding, “Samsung Biologics will continue its efforts to secure a sustainable growth momentum for K-bio by spreading an organic co-prosperity cooperation model.”

Julie Gilmore, Head of LGL, said, “This collaboration is an important turning point that will put the global expansion of LGL into full swing,” adding, “The new LGL base in Korea, which is emerging as a hub of life science innovation underpinned by outstanding scientific talent, will serve as a hub providing startups with the resources, expertise, and global network they need, as well as a platform to help strengthen the biotech innovation ecosystem.”

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