CHA Medical Group enters Australian fertility market

CHA Global Institute Chairman Cha Kwang-yul, center, with CFC Global executives after signing an acquisition deal at the CHA Bio Complex in Pangyo on Jan. 31. / Courtesy of CHA Medical Group

By Jung Min-ho

CHA Medical Group (CMG) has acquired the largest stake in a leading sub-fertility treatment center in Australia, becoming Korea’s first medical institution to enter the Australian market.

CMG announced last week that CHA Healthcare, its joint venture with Singapore Medical Group, has acquired 65 percent of CFC Global, which runs seven fertility clinics in Australia.

With the deal, CMG has become manager of all the clinics across the country. It has also gained the business rights of CFC Global’s Social Biobank (frozen egg storage) and genetic testing.

CMG plans to send many clinical doctors and researchers to the Australian center to work with local researchers.

The latest move is part of CMG’s efforts to widen its global network. The group plans to continue making inroads overseas, including Taiwan, Vietnam and Indonesia. The goal is to become the world’s largest In vitro fertilization (IVF) institution by 2022.

IVF is a fertilization process in which an egg is combined with sperm outside the body.

“We will continue to spread our sub-fertility treatment knowhow, widen our global network, train young researchers and create jobs,” said CHA Global Institute Chairman Cha Kwang-yul.

As a researcher, Cha has been recognized by many domestic and international organizations, including the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, for his contributions to developments in the stem cell and sub-fertility areas.

He is founder and president of dozens of medical, educational and research institutions here and abroad.

In 1999, CMG established CHA-Columbia Fertility Center at Columbia University in New York City ― the first Korean medical institution to do so there ― and, several years later, took over the CHA Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center in L.A. In 2014, CMG established the Tokyo Cell Clinic ― also the first time a Korean institution has done this in Japan.