[Yokohama, Japan = E-Daily Reporter Minji Son ] On the morning of the 7th at the Pacifico Yokohama Convention Center in Japan, industry professionals from various countries began flocking to the venue entrance even before the event opened, forming long lines. Inside the exhibition hall, the aisles between booths were so packed with people that there was barely room to stand. With booths from global pharmaceutical and biotech companies and research institutions densely packed throughout the venue, consultation tables quickly filled with representatives sitting down for pre-scheduled meetings. Scenes of people exchanging business cards and discussing possibilities for joint development, technology transfer, and production partnerships could be seen throughout the exhibition hall.

“BIO JAPAN 2026,” Asia’s largest biotech business event, kicked off on the 7th. Marking its 40th anniversary this year, the event features over 1,700 companies and institutions from 40 countries and regions worldwide. The fact that more industry representatives were seen rushing to attend pre-scheduled meetings than visitors browsing the exhibition hall underscored that BIO JAPAN is more than just an exhibition—it is a practical platform for business development (BD).

Korean companies also attended the event to secure contract development and manufacturing (CDMO) orders, facilitate technology transfers, and explore opportunities for clinical trials and regulatory approvals in Japan. While SAMSUNG BIOLOGICS(207940)and Lotte Biologics expanded their networks with clients in Asia-Pacific (APAC), including Japan, at their standalone booths, startups in the regenerative medicine and cell therapy sectors explored potential collaborations with local pharmaceutical companies and medical institutions, primarily through the joint pavilion and partnering sessions.

Samsung and Lotte Biologics Seek Opportunities to Expand CDMO Business

SAMSUNG BIOLOGICS showcased its integrated CDMO capabilities—encompassing research, development, and manufacturing—as well as its production capacity of 845,000 liters at its standalone booth. The company also held a seminar on the topic of “Integrated CDMO Services and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD)-Based Optimization of Antibody-Drug Conjugate (ADC) Conjugation Processes.”

Lotte Biologics also set up its own booth and highlighted its “dual-site” strategy linking its Syracuse, U.S., plant with the Songdo Bio Campus in Incheon. The company plans to establish a production system capable of meeting client demand at every stage of development, from clinical-phase volumes to commercial production. Plant No. 1 at the Songdo Bio Campus received its operating permit last June and is set to be officially inaugurated next month.

Regenerative Medicine and Cell Therapy Companies Seek

Partners

Korean biotech startups also explored potential collaborations with global pharmaceutical companies and medical institutions, focusing on the joint pavilion and partnering meetings. In particular, the participation of companies in the regenerative medicine and cell therapy sectors stood out. Japan is regarded as a market with well-developed regulatory frameworks and medical infrastructure for regenerative medicine, offering Korean companies an opportunity not only to export technology but also to discuss local clinical trials, manufacturing, and regulatory strategies.

At the K-Startup Bio joint booth, Korean companies such as Aitems, ORGANOIDSCIENCES LTD., Youth Bio Global, Ipsell, EASY BIO, Inc., G2GBIO, Inc., Curibio, Q-Peak Bio, T-Cube It, and Cell Bio participated to showcase their respective platform technologies and pipelines. Cellkey AI set up a separate booth to meet with local participants.

On the 8th, a “Korea-Japan Cooperation Seminar” is scheduled to take place in collaboration with the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, the Chungbuk and Daejeon Technoparks, the Korea Institute of Toxicology (KIT), and the Korea Venture Capital Association. Through presentations on Korea-Japan bio cooperation and global market entry, participants will discuss examples of joint research and collaboration with Japanese companies, as well as strategies for entering global markets. Investor relations (IR) sessions will also be held by companies such as CellBio, QPeak Bio, MCI, Medicus Biotech, Exolence, Psyki Biotech, and Recode.

Throughout the exhibition venue, Korean companies were seen actively engaging in localization efforts. This is because localization capabilities are considered a key prerequisite for collaboration in the Japanese market. A South Korean biotech industry official met at the event stated, “At biotech events held in the U.S. and elsewhere, communication in English suffices, but in Japan, a significant portion of consultations and event guidance is conducted in Japanese.” They added, “Discussions can only lead to actual business deals if we have personnel capable of explaining our technology in Japanese and building sustained relationships with local partners.”

Amid

a Cluster of Big Pharma Booths… K-Bio Focuses on ‘Selection and Concentration’

Global Big Pharma companies also continued to participate. Eli Lilly is hosting a seminar on “Lilly TuneLab,” which provides artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML) models to Japan’s biotech ecosystem, and “Lilly ExploR&D,” a biotech innovation acceleration program. Major pharmaceutical companies such as Johnson & Johnson (J&J), Eli Lilly, Boehringer Ingelheim, and AGC Biologics also set up partnering booths.

On the other hand, some observers noted that the participation of domestic biotech companies was not as widespread as in previous years. They explained that more companies chose not to attend the event because they were focusing on individual partnering meetings rather than operating exhibition booths, or because they were taking a conservative approach to allocating personnel and funds for overseas events due to the recent slowdown in investment.

An executive at a domestic biotech company said, “Rather than starting negotiations for the first time at the event, it is often a venue for discussing specific terms of cooperation or announcing agreements with companies with which we have already established contact,” adding, “How closely we schedule meetings before and after the event and how effectively we follow up on those discussions determines the actual results.”

He continued, “With the domestic biotech investment market in a slump, funding and interest are concentrated on semiconductors and, within the biotech sector, specific areas such as ADCs,” adding, “It is now more urgent for biotech ventures to create opportunities domestically and translate them into business results.”