Interview with Co-CEOs Minkeun Jo and Heesun Kim at Seoul Seongsu Office
[E-Daily] “More people are conquering Mount Everest these days because base camps have moved closer to the summit. When the base camp is positioned higher, the probability of reaching the top increases. We want to raise the base camp for new drug developers—showing them they only need to go a little further.”
Co-CEO Minkeun Jo shared this vision during an interview with E-Daily on the 4th at BXPLANT’s Seoul Seongsu office. He co-founded BXPLANT in January with Co-CEO Heesun Kim, both former Daewoong Pharmaceutical executives. The company was established to support bio venture growth by providing comprehensive services including full-cycle new drug development consulting, clinical trials, business model development, investment facilitation, and open innovation.
Bridging the R&D Gap Through CDRO
BXPLANT provides support from full-cycle strategic consulting to regulatory services and post-market management. As a CDRO (Clinical Development and Research Organization) specialist, the company establishes R&D strategies and operates clinical trials.
Unlike traditional CROs that focus solely on contracted clinical services, CDRO engages with clients from the research and preclinical stages, providing services across regulatory affairs (RA), CMC, preclinical toxicity studies, and Phase 1-4 clinical trials.
“We noticed there are many CROs, but few that provide clinical development services,” said Co-CEO Jo. “We created BXPLANT because someone needs to perform clinical development. We aim to serve as a development and clinical division for bio ventures—R&D bridging is our core business.”
BXPLANT’s CDRO services extend beyond pharmaceuticals to include digital therapeutics (DTx), quasi-drugs, and medical devices.
Supporting Scale-Up from Bio Startups to Biotech
BXPLANT also functions as a scalerator, identifying promising bio and healthcare startups and nurturing them into mature biotech companies. Unlike accelerators that support early-stage startups, scalerators help startups reach maturity.
“The difference between bio startups and biotech companies lies in pipeline development,” explained Co-CEO Jo. “If we fill the R&D strategy gap, startups can grow into biotech companies.” Co-CEO Kim added, “The transition from preclinical to early clinical stages is when a company’s valuation increases exponentially—that’s the scale-up phase.”
BXPLANT provides different strategies depending on whether clients plan to commercialize or out-license their drugs, addressing the common issue of inadequate post-licensing strategies among Korean bio companies.
Targeting 20 Billion KRW Annual Revenue and IPO
BXPLANT’s 2024 contract target is 9 billion KRW, with 2 billion KRW already secured and expectations to reach 3.5 billion KRW in the first half. The company currently employs 30 highly skilled professionals, all considered top-tier experts in their fields.
When annual revenue reaches 20 billion KRW, BXPLANT plans to pursue an IPO, with preparations expected between 2026-2028.
source : BXPLANT: “We Will Be the Base Camp for Scaling Up Bio Ventures”, Saemi Kim, E-Daily, 2024.06.07., https://www.edaily.co.kr/news/read?newsId=01597366638919424
