Novo Nordisk Pharmaceuticals Korea announced on April 2 that it successfully wrapped up the Novo Nordisk Partnering Day 2026, co-hosted with the Korea Health Industry Development Institute and Novo Holdings at the L Tower in Yangjae-dong, Seoul.
The event aimed to identify domestic companies with groundbreaking technologies in areas of significant unmet needs, such as diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular diseases, and rare blood disorders. It also sought to provide opportunities for global partnerships and investments. The ultimate goal was to establish multifaceted collaboration models, including joint research, licensing, and investment connections, to bolster the global competitiveness of Korea’s pharmaceutical and biotech industries.
The event drew over 120 attendees from the domestic bio-healthcare sector, with more than 30 companies submitting written materials for technology pitching, indicating substantial interest.
Among the promising domestic firms that cleared the preliminary document review, ImmunoForge clinched the top spot in the final pitching session, garnering significant attention. Eisen Science and Mindrich secured second and third places, respectively. The winning companies received a total prize of 30 million KRW (about 19,900 USD), along with expert feedback from Novo Nordisk and Novo Holdings, as well as opportunities for collaboration and investment mentoring.
Key figures at the event included Jenny Yang, Asia-Pacific Head of External Innovation, and Calvin Chen, Associate Director of External Innovation for the Asia-Pacific region at Novo Nordisk’s global Business Development (BD) and External Innovation team. Amit KaKar, Managing Partner for the Asia region at Novo Holdings, also participated in discussions about practical cooperation with domestic companies.
A highlight of the event was the one-on-one partnering meetings with domestic pharmaceutical and biotech firms interested in joint research and licensing in Novo Nordisk’s key focus areas. These meetings aimed to provide partnership and investment opportunities across a wide range of innovative technology fields, including MedTech, Contract Research Organization (CRO), Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization (CDMO), medical devices, digital health, biotechnology, and diagnostics – areas of particular interest to Novo Holdings for investment collaboration. Participating companies engaged in individual discussions with Novo Nordisk’s global BD team and Novo Holdings representatives to explore potential collaboration avenues and future investment possibilities.
Kasper Roseeuw Poulsen, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Novo Nordisk Pharmaceuticals Korea, emphasized that Korea is a strategic hub in the Asia-Pacific region with world-class healthcare infrastructure. Novo Nordisk will leverage its accumulated expertise to actively support innovative partners in securing international competitiveness in the global market and contribute to the development of Korea’s pharmaceutical and biotech ecosystem.
Jung Young-hoon, Planning Director at the Korea Health Industry Development Institute, stated that it will continue to strengthen our open innovation platform through the K-Bio Pharma NextBridge project. It is committed to fostering tangible outcomes such as joint research, technology transfer, and investment connections between global pharmaceutical leaders like Novo Nordisk and domestic companies through continuous support from technology collaboration to commercialization.