I often remark that one of the most exciting aspects of the healthcare ecosystem in Asia is just how quickly the space is evolving. As I reflect on the last 120 days since we opened JLABS Korea, and consider all we have accomplished within just a few short months in collaboration with Korea’s Ministry of Health and Welfare (MoHW), I experience those same feelings of excitement, optimism and appreciation for the future of biomedical and biotech innovation in Korea, as well as the incredible work we achieve through the JLABS global network. 

This past March, J&J Innovation was thrilled to further expand J&J’s longstanding investments in Korea by introducing the global capabilities of our JLABS offering through an agreement with the MoHW in which JLABS was selected as the Subsidized Project Operator for MoHW’s prestigious 2024 Global Accelerator Platform. J&J Innovation and the MoHW were back in the news only weeks later at BIO KOREA where we announced the launch of the first Korea Innovation QuickFire Challenge (QFC) in May. Innovators worldwide with an active interest in Korea’s healthcare innovation ecosystem were invited to submit groundbreaking robotics, digital, or biomedtech solutions that aim to advance the next generation of smarter, less invasive, more personalized treatment and care.  

With the goal of accelerating the transformation of healthcare solutions and enhancing the global competitiveness of local healthcare companies, JLABS Korea has been hard at work onboarding new companies and building out a transformational team. I’m thrilled to announce the first group of early-stage, South Korea-based companies joining JLABS Korea to accelerate their promising discoveries:

In the midst of these exciting announcements and events, JLABS Korea has been onboarding a team of transformational talents, including the new Head, John Choi, M.D, Ph.D, who will lead the efforts and future outcomes of JLABS Korea, Ahryon Cho, Ph.D, as Head of Venture Relations, Hana Joo, MBA, as Strategic Marketing Associate Director, Sujin Jo, PharmD, as Scientific Portfolio Engagement Lead, and Woonghee Cho, as Business Development Operations Manager. The JLABS Korea team moved into the brand-new office on August 14, located in the center of Seoul within walking distance to the J&J Korea office and the local life science hub. We look forward to meeting more and more innovators and investors at events hosted at our new office and other local incubators in Seoul.  

The JLABS Korea team celebrates the brand-new office opening on August 14.