Kookmin Bio (CEO Sung Moon-Hui) and BioME (CEO Yoon Sang-Sun) have announced that they recently signed an MOU for strategic business cooperation in the biohealth and microbiome industry at Avison Biomedical Research Center, Yonsei University. 

 Kookmin Bio gained a foundation of raw material and process standardization by using the commercialization center in Jeonbuk Special Zone, which is certified with Good Manufacturing Practice. They have the technical expertise to strategically formulate and produce bio-health food and drug materials that have been tested and confirmed through animal trials.

 Kookmin Bio's CEO, Sung Moon-Hui, stated that, “Both the companies will execute their plans to develop joint research for the clinical research of bio-health microbiome food and drug materials as well as clinical research for the global licensing of human trials.” 

She added, “Due to the successful outcome of our research and development, a mutual confirmation of an effective and safe bio-health microbiome food and drug materials was feasible. Through enforcing clinical research as well as manufacturing and formulating the bio-health materials, a foundation for the bio-health microbiome commercialization was achieved.” 

 BioMe, a venture company specializing in microbiome and branched out from the College of Medicine at Yonsei University, has signed a memorandum of understanding with Kookmin Bio. They are currently developing an "active beneficial bacterium" into a live biotherapeutic product (LBP) after more than 10 years of research cooperation.

Kookmin Bio has conducted multiple animal trials to verify the effectiveness of their bio-health food and drug materials that help to improve body fat, prevent and treat inflammatory colitis, and address sarcopenia. These tests were conducted in collaboration with Kookmin University's LINC3.0 distributive research.

 Furthermore, a human trial on the body fat reduction of a bio-health food and drug material called Soybiome was conducted by researchers using Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) certified manufacturing facilities.

Currently, a human trial is being conducted at Kangbuk Samsung Hospital to obtain permission for the use of Soybiome.

 Dr. Sung Moon-Hui, CEO of Kookmin Bio and an honorary professor at Kookmin University, has dedicated the past 40 years of his career to studying bio-health food and drug materials.

As a research scientist and CEO, he is a recognized member of the Korean Academy of Science and Technology and has held various leadership positions in the Korean Society for Microbiology and Biotechnology. His contributions to the field have been recognized with several prestigious awards, including the 47th IR52 Jang Young-Shil Award, the Science and Technology Merit Medal, and the Order of Science and Technology Merit.

 The CEO of BioME, Yoon Sang-Sun, is a professor at the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at Yonsei University College of Medicine. He previously served as an Associate Vice President at Severance Hospital's Medical Science Research Office.

In 2016, he was named the best Medical Science 5 by the Biological Research Information Center (BRIC). He currently heads a government task focused on developing microbiome treatment technology at the Research Focused Hospital, Severance Hospital.

 Kookmin Bio is using a new biological excipient derived from local beans to advance their production process of bio-health food and drug materials under Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP). As part of the nation's R&D task, the company is also working towards launching a newly defined microbiome and postbiotics product.

Lee Song-Lee
Reporter

songleelee@kookmin.ac.kr