The South Koreans focus particularly on the fields of  "Regenerative Medicine" and "Stem Cell Research". This is not least why biotech researchers and companies from Berlin-Brandenburg are now looking to enter into discussion and exchange with their Asian colleagues. They have already laid the foundations for fruitful and productive cooperation.

Letter of Intent and Project Cooperation

Assisted by BioTOP Berlin-Brandenburg, an initiative of the Technology Foundation Berlin (TSB), the first existing ties with the Korean peninsula were advanced. The German Heart Institute in Berlin signed a Letter of Intent with the Korean company FCB Pharmicell and agreed a collaborative project with the company RNL BIO. Contacts with the Korean Health Industry Development Institute (KHIDI) are also being fostered. A group of scientists from Berlin is planning a bilateral congress for September 2009. While a Korean visiting scientist has been working on stem cell research at the Berlin-Brandenburg Centre for Regenerative Therapies since February 2008.

Representatives of the Charité University Medicine Berlin are currently discussing joint activities with the Jeonnam Biotech Park and have already welcomed a Korean delegation to the German capital for a visit. Topics of discussion included immune therapy and healing wounds. A Memorandum of Understanding with the Seoul National University (SNU) is currently being drawn up.

High potential contacts

To present German stem cell research, BioTOP organised a major symposium with more than a hundred participants. Attention centred on the extensive breadth of German research topics – and on the benefits to be expected from cooperating with South Korea. For, while German scientists are particularly strong in the combination of cells and materials, their Korean colleagues lie ahead in combining cells with microelectrical elements. Hence, such cooperation strengthens both sides in the competition posed by the scientific community in the United States.