Korea BMS Pharmaceuticals announced on the 19th that Three Brooks Therapeutics and GBIOLOGICS were selected as the winners of the “Seoul-BMS Innovation Square Challenge”, co-hosted with the Seoul Metropolitan Government and Seoul Bio Hub.
The Seoul-BMS Innovation Square Challenge is an open innovation program launched to discover domestic technologies that can transform the lives of patients with severe diseases, and to support their commercialization through collaboration with global pharmaceutical companies.
Since its inception in 2022, the program has reached its fourth edition this year, attracting a record 61 biotech startups. Applications were accepted across eight therapeutic areas that align with BMS’s drug development priorities: oncology, hematology, cell therapy, cardiovascular disease, immunology, neuroscience, translational medicine, and research technologies. After evaluation by Korea BMS’s business development team and BMS’s global business development and R&D teams, five finalists were selected. In the final round, with participation from BMS, Seoul City, and Seoul Bio Hub, Three Brooks Therapeutics and GBIOLOGICS emerged as winners.
Three Brooks Therapeutics is developing a novel drug that activates TRPML1, a key ion channel regulating the autophagy-lysosome signaling pathway. This mechanism clears amyloid beta, tau, and damaged mitochondria from brain neurons while reducing neuroinflammation. The company focuses on treatments for neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. Leveraging expertise in ion channel and electrophysiology research, it has built a global collaboration network with institutions including POSTECH and Boston University. Although its programs are still in early development, they have been recognized for strong therapeutic hypotheses and structural validity.
GBIOLOGICS is developing a new autoimmune disease therapy based on its stabilized recombinant Galectin-9 (sGal-9) platform, which suppresses excessive immune cell activation and inflammation. Target indications include rheumatoid arthritis and lupus. The company’s approach directly targets pathological RA fibroblast-like synoviocytes (RA-FLSs) and modulates TLR signaling, offering a mechanism to fundamentally suppress immune and inflammatory responses.
Both companies will receive research grants of 40 million KRW each (a total of 80 million KRW), jointly provided by Korea BMS Pharmaceuticals, Seoul City, and Seoul Bio Hub. They will also be offered one year of residency at Seoul Bio Hub and receive mentoring from BMS’s global business development and R&D experts to strengthen their research and commercialization capabilities.
Lee Hye-Young, CEO of Korea BMS Pharmaceuticals, stated:
“Open innovation is the source of BMS’s innovation and part of our DNA. Through open innovation, we prioritize contributing to the development of Korea’s healthcare ecosystem and delivering innovation to patients more quickly.”
Kim Hyun-Woo, Head of Seoul Bio Hub, commented:
“Seoul Bio Hub actively connects diverse networks to support the growth of innovative startups. Through this open innovation program with BMS, we will continue to build and expand a growth ladder that enables Korean biotech startups to leap into the global market.”
David Song, CEO of GBIOLOGICS, said:
“It is deeply meaningful that our research to address unmet needs in autoimmune disease treatment has been recognized for its potential by a global pharmaceutical company. We will actively leverage BMS’s global mentoring and collaboration network to advance our sGal-9 platform into a competitive innovative therapy in the global market.”
Sung-Young Kim, CEO of Three Brooks Therapeutics, added:
“This award is significant as it demonstrates global recognition of the scientific potential of our neurodegenerative disease treatment strategy based on the autophagy-lysosome signaling pathway. Through collaboration with BMS, which is strengthening research in neuroscience, we aim to accelerate drug development and present a new paradigm in neurodegenerative disease treatment.”
Hankyung BIO Insight / Reporter Ji-Hyun Lee (bluesky@hankyung.com)
