Nation’s First Organoid Consortium Targets Standardization and Global Competitiveness (Image supported by ChatGPT)
SEOUL, Aug. 13 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea has established its first national body dedicated to advancing organoid technology, marking a significant step toward standardizing and commercializing the field amid growing global demand for alternatives to animal testing.
The K-Organoid Consortium, officially launched on August 13 at The Westin Josun Seoul, brings together 27 companies and 18 institutions from across industry, academia, and government.
Organoids — miniature organ models grown by aggregating stem cells or tissue-derived cells in three dimensions — are increasingly being used worldwide as “artificial organs” for research and testing.
Designed as a public-private collaboration, the consortium aims to strengthen South Korea’s R&D capacity, establish technical standards, and enhance global competitiveness.
Planned activities for the second half of 2025 include forming working groups, drafting a technology standardization roadmap, hosting the first national organoid technology seminar, and submitting policy proposals to the government.
K-Organoid Consortium. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
Park Jeong-tae, vice president of the Korea Biomedicine Industry Association and the consortium’s inaugural chair, pledged to “lead the advancement, standardization, and industrialization of organoid and animal-alternative testing technologies” and to foster a tightly connected research ecosystem that promotes international collaboration.
The consortium will work closely with the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety’s Organoid Standardization Initiative (OSI), a forum of experts from industry, academia, research, and government tasked with developing standards and scientific evidence for organoid and bio-tissue chip technologies.
Food and Drug Safety Minister Oh Yoo-kyung welcomed the launch, noting that South Korea’s hosting of the 14th World Congress on Alternatives and Animal Use in the Life Sciences (WC14) in 2027 would further elevate the nation’s status in the field. She described the consortium as “an essential starting point” for making South Korea a powerhouse in organoid research.
Kevin Lee (kevinlee@koreabizwire.com)
