Mass General Brigham Innovation eyes Korean biotech partnerships

At the 2025 KDDF Global Biotech Showcase held Tuesday at the Fairmont Ambassador Seoul, Dione Kobayashi, Head of Therapeutics and Partner at Mass General Brigham Innovation, highlighted the organization’s commitment to expanding global biotech collaborations, particularly with Korean firms.

The event, hosted by the Korea Drug Development Fund (KDDF), was designed to invigorate Korea’s new drug development ecosystem through direct meetings between local biotech startups and global investors. 

Translating discovery into opportunity: the role of Mass General Brigham Innovation

Mass General Brigham Innovation functions as the central bridge between cutting-edge academic research and real-world therapeutic impact within one of the world’s most prominent healthcare systems.

While its parent organization, Mass General Brigham, anchors the largest hospital-based research enterprise in the U.S., such as prestigious hospitals like Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Mass General Brigham Innovation's mandate is distinctly entrepreneurial, which is to identify, invest in, and advance technologies that can ultimately benefit patients at scale.

As Dione Kobayashi explains, the office operates beyond the traditional bounds of technology transfer.

“We don’t just license out IP -- we incubate and invest in early science that has the potential to define entirely new categories of medicine,” she said.

Among its key platforms is the Amplify team, a specialized unit within Mass General Brigham Innovation focused on pre-commercial, high-risk therapeutic development, which Kobayashi leads. The team works at the earliest stages of translational research -- often before a formal startup is even created -- bringing together scientific validation, market modeling, and operational planning under one roof.

“The team is intentionally small but deeply experienced,” Kobayashi noted. “We have internal experts in medicinal chemistry, RNA therapeutics, biologics, commercial strategy, and medical product development. Our job is to spot what others might overlook, and give it the structure and resources it needs to take shape.”

Unlike traditional VCs, the Amplify team doesn’t just write checks as they often embed themselves directly in the formation and growth of companies. Core team members may even serve as interim CSOs or development officers until a full executive structure is in place.

This “hands-on investing” model allows them to reduce operational costs while increasing execution efficiency during the company’s earliest and riskiest stages.

Kobayashi also emphasized the importance of risk appetite.

“We’re not in the business of funding incremental improvements as we look for science that can truly shift paradigms,” Kobayashi said. “That might mean a novel delivery platform, a previously undruggable target, or an entirely new class of molecules.”

This bold approach is only possible because of the infrastructure surrounding Mass General Brigham Innovation. With access to thousands of active researchers, world-class hospital networks, and one of the largest biorepositories in North America, the organization is uniquely positioned to de-risk scientific ideas while accelerating them toward the clinic.
 
Korean biotech impresses with real-world readiness

When asked why she became interested in the Korean biotech sector, Kobayashi said her engagement with Korean biotech firms began with an earlier visit to TIPS (Tech Incubator Program for Startup), a separate showcase of emerging Korean companies.

“I was blown away by their development pipelines and the maturity of their assets,” she recalled. “Unlike some early-stage ventures in the U.S., these companies came with concrete data and well-thought-out development plans.”

That impression led to her participation in this week’s KDDF Global Biotech Showcase. She views Korea as an increasingly strategic partner, especially in today’s constrained biotech funding environment in the U.S., often dubbed “Biotech Winter.”

“This is a time to think creatively and look for new opportunities,” she said. “Collaborating with Korean firms can help de-risk projects, add synergistic value, and open up new markets, including potential Korean investors.”

→ Read the full article on [Korea Biomedical Review]