“We’re here to meet Japanese pharmaceutical companies”... K-biotechs get to work in Yokohama

【YOKOHAMA, Japan — Jeong Sang-hee】“We were pleased with the results we achieved at BioJapan last year, so we came again this year.” On the 8th, the Pacifico Yokohama exhibition center in Japan, venue for Asia’s largest biotech and pharmaceutical event, BioJapan 2026, was less a place to simply showcase technology than a “sales floor” where companies worked to secure their next business deal. Across the exhibition hall, which drew more than 20,000 visitors, small and midsize biotechs were seeking overseas partners, leveraging their respective technologies and clinical experience. It was a chance to see firsthand how BioJapan is being used not merely as an exhibition, but as a venue for creating opportunities for actual technology transfers and joint business ventures.

Cytogen, a precision medicine company specializing in circulating tumor cells (CTCs), is participating in BioJapan for the third consecutive year. Since entering the Japanese market in 2024, it has returned each year to expand partnership opportunities. CTCs are cancer cells found in the blood. Cytogen is developing precision medicine services that isolate and analyze CTCs from blood to identify cancer characteristics and determine treatment approaches.
Park Se-hyeong, a principal researcher in Cytogen’s diagnostics business division, said, “Awareness of circulating tumor cells is higher in Japan than in Korea,” adding, “As a newcomer to the Japanese market, we are aiming to enter the premium self-pay services market.”
Last year’s participation in BioJapan led to tangible business results, which is another reason the company returned this year. Principal Researcher Park explained, “Last year, we secured a partnership with Japan’s National Cancer Center Hospital East (NCCH) through the ‘Monster Project.’”
This year, the goal is to expand into areas beyond CTCs. Cytogen plans to establish three business lines in the Japanese market: CTCs, an automated platelet-rich plasma (PRP) separation and extraction system, and prenatal testing.
PRP involves separating platelet-rich plasma from blood for use in regenerative medicine and other applications. Cytogen is developing an automated PRP system and expanding its use into areas such as infertility and reproductive medicine. Prenatal testing is also a field of noninvasive, blood-based testing, and the company is broadening its diagnostic and medical services, with CTCs at the center.
Principal Researcher Park said, “Our goal this year is to establish all three pillars in the Japanese market: CTCs, which we have already built expertise in, as well as PRP and prenatal testing.”

Innovative drug developer MedPacto pursued global partnerships, putting its next-generation pipeline, “MP010,” front and center. For this BioJapan, MedPacto booked around 20 meetings in advance related to MP010. The company reportedly met repeatedly with global pharmaceutical and biotech companies during the event to introduce its pipeline and discuss potential collaborations, including joint development and technology transfers. Rather than simply presenting its technology to companies that visited its booth, it arranged meetings in advance with interested companies and continued concrete discussions about collaboration.
ViGenCell, a developer of immune cell therapies, also focused on expanding its connections with global companies. At this BioJapan, ViGenCell presented its technologies and pipeline, drawing on experience accumulated through clinical development and commercialization, including the launch of Korea’s first advanced regenerative medicine treatment. Advanced regenerative medicine is a field that treats patients using approaches different from conventional medicines, such as cell and gene therapies. Experience in regulatory matters during actual treatment, as well as in clinical trials and commercialization, is also considered a key competitive strength.
ViGenCell said it focused on pursuing partnerships with global pharmaceutical and biotech companies at the event and connecting its clinical and commercialization experience accumulated in Korea with overseas collaborations.
At BioJapan 2026, people looking for the venue of their next meeting stood out among attendees moving through the exhibition hall corridors. Inside the booths, company representatives could also be seen explaining their technologies and businesses with documents and screens laid out in front of them.
A representative of one participating company said, “For domestic small and midsize biotechs that find it difficult to build overseas networks on their own, this is an opportunity to meet local companies, hospitals and research institutions in person. Meetings are taking place near the venue until late in the evening, not just during event hours.”
[email protected] Jeong Sang-hee Reporter