The world’s largest pharmaceutical and biotech exhibition, the “2026 BIO International Convention (BIO USA),” opened on the 22nd (local time) in San Diego, United States, and will continue for four days. BIO USA, organized by the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO), marks its 33rd edition this year, with around 20,000 participants including bio companies and investors from more than 70 countries discussing trends in new drug development and investment cooperation strategies. In particular, this year for the first time, an official session titled “Korea Rising” has been arranged to present the current status of the Korean bio industry, its global commercialization achievements, and potential areas for collaboration.

According to the KoreaBIO (Korea Biotechnology Industry Organization) on the 22nd, 51 Korean companies are operating booths in the “Korea Pavilion” set up at the venue and holding business meetings with global companies and investors. A total of 152 Korean companies and institutions have been registered on the BIO USA website as official partnering counterparts, the second-highest number after the United States. Including visiting companies, approximately 250 Korean organizations are expected to attend on-site.

Samsung Biologics is the only Korean company to operate an independent booth for 14 consecutive years. It has prepared a booth of about 140㎡ in the center of the exhibition hall to promote its integrated contract research, development and manufacturing (CRDMO) services and the production capabilities of its Rockville, U.S. campus. With the recent inclusion by the U.S. Department of Defense of major Chinese contract development and manufacturing (CDMO) company WuXi AppTec on the list of “Chinese military companies,” interest in Samsung Biologics is expected to increase further.

SK Biopharmaceuticals is also opening an independent booth for the second consecutive year. Building on its expanded presence in the U.S. market with its self-developed anti-epileptic drug “cenobamate” (U.S. brand name Xcopri), the company will introduce next-generation therapeutic technologies such as targeted protein degradation (TPD) and radiopharmaceutical therapy (RPT). It will also showcase cases of digital transformation across its operations, including AI-based drug discovery and overall research and development and business processes.

Lotte Biologics will for the first time conduct an “in-booth presentation” explaining the company’s vision and manufacturing capabilities, and will organize participatory events related to antibody-drug conjugates (ADC). Celltrion plans to discuss cooperation on next-generation technologies with global pharmaceutical and biotech companies to expand its biosimilar and new drug businesses.

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