HLB Healthcare's production and R&D facility in Sejong. HLB said Thursday that it opened an office in the Boston area to facilitate its U.S. business and strengthen cooperation with U.S.-based biotech companies. Courtesy of HLB

HLB opened an office in the U.S. city of Cambridge, Massachusetts, to strengthen collaborations with global pharmaceutical companies and support the overseas market entry of its group companies, the Korean biotech said Thursday.

HLB, currently awaiting approval for its Rivoceranib liver cancer treatment from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, said it expects the opening of its office at Cambridge Innovation Center will improve the company's business capabilities.

"Through the Boston office, HLB aims to improve communication and collaboration with its U.S. subsidiaries, and to support the discovery of new drug development technologies or materials by HLB and its group companies, as well as pursue joint research with overseas companies," a company spokesperson said.

Cambridge is one of the world's leading biotech clusters. It, along with neighboring Boston, hosts the research and development centers of global pharmaceutical companies, top universities such as Harvard University and over 400 venture capitals.

HLB plans to use this foothold to acquire biotech companies with a high potential in the United States or expand new pipelines, aiming to become a global top-tier company once it secures substantial liquidity through the sale of its liver cancer drug.

Earlier in March, HLB established HLB U.S. Corp. in Delaware. The company chose the Boston area for an additional U.S. office as it was selected for the Connect & Development Incubation project run by the Korea Health Industry Development Institute (KHDI). With the incubation program, the state-run KHDI has been supporting the opening of overseas offices for domestic biotech companies to help them expand into overseas markets.

"The HLB Group, having achieved visible results in various drug development sectors through its U.S. subsidiaries, will continue to implement various strategies to strengthen smooth cooperation between domestic and overseas subsidiaries in the group and to establish a firm position as a global company," Kim Dong-gun, head of HLB USA and CEO of Immunomic Therapeutics, one of HLB's affiliates, said.