A New Phase in the Biotech Revolution: The Future Shaped by the Convergence of Precision Medicine and AI in 2026
Editor
As of 2026, the biotechnology industry stands at a historic inflection point with the convergence of artificial intelligence and precision medicine. With the global biotech market expected to grow by 11% from $1.28 trillion in 2025 to $1.42 trillion in 2026, the core drivers of this growth are no longer traditional drug development but rather AI-driven drug discovery, personalized therapeutics, and the integration of digital healthcare platforms. In particular, in South Korea, the government’s K-Bio Belt project has led to a 23% increase in biotech R&D investment, reaching 8.4 trillion won compared to 2025, which is seen as a strategic investment towards becoming a global biotech hub.
The most notable trend in the current biotech ecosystem is the rapid proliferation of AI-driven drug discovery platforms. Traditionally, new drug development required an average of 10-15 years and $2.6 billion, but with the introduction of AI technology, this period is expected to be reduced to 5-7 years, with costs dropping to around $1.5 billion. The innovative achievements of AlphaFold, developed by the UK’s DeepMind, in protein structure prediction are now being applied to actual drug development pipelines, and Insilico Medicine in the U.S. has successfully identified a candidate for pulmonary fibrosis treatment using AI in just 18 months. These technological advancements are fundamentally changing the business models of biotech companies, and traditional pharmaceutical companies are making significant investments and acquisitions to secure AI capabilities.
Samsung Biologics, a leader in the Korean biotech industry, is further solidifying its position in the global biopharmaceutical contract manufacturing (CMO) market in 2026. With a total production capacity of 624,000 liters across four plants in Songdo, Incheon, the recently announced plan for a fifth plant will add an additional 240,000 liters of production capacity. Notably, Samsung Biologics has improved production efficiency by 25% by incorporating AI-based process optimization and quality management systems, moving beyond mere contract manufacturing. This indicates that global pharmaceutical companies are beginning to consider technological capabilities as a crucial criterion when selecting production partners in Asia. In fact, Samsung Biologics recorded a 34% increase in its order backlog in Q4 2025 compared to the same period the previous year, reaching 15.2 trillion won, with 70% of the contracts being for the production of innovative new drugs rather than biosimilars.
The Dawn of the Precision Medicine Era and the Realization of Personalized Treatment
In the field of precision medicine, 2026 marks a turning point from conceptual discussions to practical applications. With the global precision medicine market expected to grow by 17% from $158 billion in 2025 to $185 billion in 2026, the key drivers of this growth are the sharp decline in genome analysis costs and advancements in AI-based data analysis technologies. With the cost of whole genome sequencing now down to around $600, personalized treatment based on an individual’s genetic characteristics is emerging as a realistic option. Particularly in cancer treatment, ‘tumor profiling,’ which analyzes the genetic profile of tumors to select the optimal anticancer drugs, is becoming a standard treatment process, showing an improvement in treatment success rates from the existing 30-40% to 60-70%.
Celltrion, a leader in the Korean biotech industry, is actively entering the development of personalized therapeutics beyond biosimilars in line with this precision medicine trend. Completed at the end of 2025 in Songdo, Incheon, ‘Celltrion Park’ is designed as an integrated bio campus that includes an AI-based drug discovery research lab and a personalized therapeutics development center, beyond just a production facility. Notably, Celltrion is developing a CAR-T cell therapy platform in collaboration with Stanford University School of Medicine in the U.S. This platform is designed to extract a patient’s immune cells and genetically modify them to specifically attack cancer cells, allowing the production of therapeutics within three weeks, reducing the previous manufacturing period of 6-8 weeks by more than half. Celltrion aims to obtain clinical trial approval in the second half of 2026, and if successful, it is expected to become the first company in Asia to commercialize CAR-T therapy.
Global pharmaceutical giants are also making large-scale investments to secure competitiveness in the precision medicine sector. Johnson & Johnson, headquartered in New Jersey, U.S., announced a $12 billion investment in precision medicine in 2026, accounting for 35% of its total R&D budget. Particularly, Janssen, a subsidiary of J&J, is developing a personalized cancer vaccine platform that manufactures custom vaccines based on neoantigens extracted from a patient’s tumor tissue, showing a 40% improvement in survival rates compared to standard treatments in Phase 3 clinical trials for melanoma and lung cancer patients. These achievements prove that personalized treatment is no longer at an experimental stage but a commercially viable treatment option.
Roche, headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, is leading an integrated approach to diagnostics and treatment in the precision medicine field. Roche’s subsidiary, Foundation Medicine, has developed comprehensive genomic profiling (CGP) technology, currently used in over 300 cancer centers worldwide, conducting 450,000 tumor profiling tests in 2025 alone. Notably, Roche has reduced the interpretation time of test results from the previous 2-3 weeks to 3-5 days using AI technology. This enables faster treatment decisions for cancer patients and directly contributes to improved treatment success rates. Roche also plans to launch the ‘Roche navify’ platform in 2026, providing a digital solution that allows healthcare professionals to integratively analyze a patient’s genetic profile, treatment history, and real-time monitoring data.
The Convergence of Digital Healthcare and Biotech
Another major trend in the biotech industry in 2026 is the convergence with digital healthcare technology. Through the combination of wearable devices, IoT sensors, and AI analysis platforms, continuous health monitoring and predictive medical services are becoming a reality. With the global digital healthcare market expected to grow by 21% from $596 billion in 2025 to $720 billion in 2026, the sector directly related to biotech is estimated to be around $280 billion. Notably, advancements in tracking drug efficacy and predicting side effects through real-time biometric signal monitoring are significantly enhancing clinical trial efficiency, contributing to patient safety and increasing the success rate of new drug development.
Illumina, headquartered in California, U.S., a global leader in genomic sequencing equipment, is presenting a new business model through integration with digital healthcare platforms. Illumina’s latest sequencing platform, ‘NovaSeq X Plus,’ has the processing capacity to analyze up to 20,000 whole genomes per day, connecting to a cloud-based analysis platform to provide real-time genetic variation analysis and disease risk prediction. More intriguingly, Illumina announced the ‘Genome to Impact’ program in early 2026. This program combines an individual’s genomic information with lifestyle pattern data collected from wearable devices, offering personalized health management solutions and disease prevention strategies, currently being piloted in the U.S. and Europe.
Thermo Fisher Scientific, headquartered in Waltham, Massachusetts, is leading the digital transformation of the biotech industry as a specialist in life sciences equipment and services. Particularly, its ‘Cloud Lab’ platform provides a fully automated system that allows laboratories worldwide to design, execute, and analyze experiments remotely. As of 2025, over 450 biotech companies and research institutions globally are utilizing this platform, and with the surge in demand for remote research following the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of users is expected to increase by 40% in 2026. Notably, Thermo Fisher has introduced an AI-based experiment design and result prediction system, allowing researchers to simulate results before conducting actual experiments. This has shown to improve research efficiency by over 30% and reduce R&D costs by an average of 25%.
In South Korea, the convergence of digital healthcare and biotech is also actively progressing. Particularly, as part of the government’s ‘Digital New Deal 2.0’ policy, the ‘Digital Healthcare Innovation Hub’ project is beginning to show tangible results in 2026. Through this project, major medical institutions such as Seoul National University Hospital, Samsung Medical Center, and Asan Medical Center are collaborating with biotech companies to develop AI-based diagnostic systems and personalized treatment platforms. Notably, the ‘AI Doctor’ system, jointly developed by Seoul National University Hospital and Naver Cloud Platform, shows over 90% accuracy in early disease detection and treatment direction by comprehensively analyzing patient medical records, genomic information, and real-time biometric signals. These achievements demonstrate that South Korea is securing technological competitiveness in the global digital healthcare market.
The digital transformation of the biotech industry is also fostering the emergence of new business models. Moving away from the traditional ‘blockbuster’ drug development model, ‘niche biotech’ companies specializing in treatments for rare diseases or personalized therapeutics for small patient groups are rapidly growing. These companies are leveraging digital platforms to streamline the entire process from patient recruitment to clinical trial execution and market entry, leading to the democratization of new drug development. In fact, 35% of the new drugs approved by the FDA in 2025 were developed by small and medium-sized biotech companies with fewer than 500 employees, a significant increase from 22% in 2020. This change is enhancing the diversity and innovation of the biotech ecosystem, providing patients with more treatment options.
When forecasting the biotech industry in 2026, an important factor to consider alongside technological innovation is the changing regulatory environment. Major regulatory agencies worldwide are presenting new guidelines for AI-based drug development and personalized therapeutics, promoting standardization and quality improvement across the industry. The U.S. FDA is set to announce its final ‘AI-based Drug Discovery Guidelines’ in early 2026, and the European Medicines Agency (EMA) is preparing a similar regulatory framework. The Korean Ministry of Food and Drug Safety also plans to announce the ‘Personalized Therapeutics Approval Review Guidelines’ in the first half of 2026. The clarification of this regulatory environment is expected to provide biotech companies with a predictable business environment and enhance investor confidence. At the same time, the establishment of global standards is anticipated to reduce regulatory barriers faced by Korean biotech companies when entering overseas markets.
Another crucial factor that will determine the future of the biotech industry is talent acquisition and capability development. There is a surging demand for a new type of expert that combines AI, data science, and life sciences, intensifying the global competition for talent. In South Korea, the government and private sector are collaborating to operate a ‘Bio-AI Convergence Talent Development Program,’ aiming to train 1,000 specialized personnel by 2026. Large corporations such as Samsung, LG, and SK are also actively recruiting talent to enter the biotech field, focusing particularly on attracting Korean researchers with overseas experience. If these efforts bear fruit, South Korea is expected to further solidify its position as a biotech hub in Asia and establish a foundation for securing technological superiority in competition with global biotech companies.
*This analysis is intended for informational purposes only and is not a solicitation for investment or stock recommendations. Investment decisions should be made at one’s own discretion and responsibility.*
