The Korea Biotechnology Industry Organization (KBIO) said the upcoming annual biotech and healthcare convention will be held online only due to concerns over the continued spread of Covid-19.

The host of the event said it would offer a real-time live streaming service for the online meeting but biotech companies complained that they lost an opportunity to promote their goods and services offline.

KBIO said the BIOPLUS INTERPHEX Korea 2020, initially scheduled to be held at COEX, southern Seoul, on Sept. 23-25, will run on the internet only.

As the government recently introduced a toughened measure for risk-prone groups, also known as Level 2.5 social distancing, to contain the virus, KBIO decided to hold the event online, putting the safety of exhibitors, speakers, and visitors the top priority.

KBIO has been holding the annual BIOPLUS conference for the past five years since 2015.

This year, KBIO and Reed Exhibition Korea are jointly holding the upcoming BIOPLUS INTERPHEX Korea 2020.

The upcoming conference had been scheduled to take place in late August but KBIO and the secretariat delayed the event to September due to the cluster infections linked to a club in Itaewon in May. The organizer shifted the conference from offline to a mix of online and offline events.

However, with the spike of confirmed cases in greater Seoul in August, the conference went online only.

KBIO said participants who file pre-registration will get free access to the conference.

It will also provide the opening ceremony and the conference through a YouTube live streaming service on KBIO’s official channel, Bio TV.

However, as the exhibition for buyers and investors has been pushed back to 2021, making it impossible for companies to hold promotion and marketing events.

Participating companies said they have not received any guidelines for shifting the event from offline to online.

An official at a local drugmaker, who had planned to do marketing activities at the convention, said he was waiting for an update from KBIO or the secretariat. “I feel sorry that biotech events are being canceled one by one,” he added.

kch@docdocdoc.co.kr

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