Invest KOREA

According to Yonhap News,

Korea aims to develop 14 new preclinical candidates in three years

(SEOUL = Yonhap News) Korea will invest KRW 1 trillion in the Daegu-North Gyeongsang Province region and the Osong high-tech medical multiple complex for the next three years and increase the number of research staff four-fold to step up its efforts to develop new medicine and medical apparatus.

The Ministry of Health & Welfare (MOHW) announced that the second comprehensive plan for multiple complexes was confirmed in the high-tech medical multiple complex committee, which was hosted by the Prime Minister.

The government plans to invest some KRW 1 trillion with municipal governments and the private sector in multiple complexes for various purposes, including research and development. The number of research staff will be increased from the current 178 to more than 700 to actively support the development and commercialization of original technologies in the advanced healthcare industry.

It will also rent research space, execute test inspections of prototypes, and expand facility support to attract technology ventures to the complex.

The New Drug Development Center will be led by the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning, and it will support the entire development process of preclinical candidates, including the analysis and assessment of lead compounds developed by universities and government-funded research institutes. The center will set up an information system to make the center’s equipment and facility readily available for external researchers, and rent out space in the center to researchers and venture entrepreneurs for research purposes.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy will work with the Medical Device Development Center and provide a one-stop service for the small- and medium-sized enterprises in the areas of R&D, manufacture of prototypes, test inspections, performance evaluation and preclinical trials.

The Laboratory Animal Center and Clinical Drug Manufacturing Center will be supervised by the MOHW and support the assessment of animal experiments and manufacturing processes of preclinical candidates.

The government aims to develop 14 preclinical candidates and eight new technologies in the new drug sector, and 40 prototypes and 30 new technologies in the medical apparatus sector.

“We hope that the government, municipal governments and private sector will make a joint effort to develop new drugs and medical apparatus within the next 10 years in the complex, so we can develop the healthcare industry and the local economy,” said Prime Minister Jung Hong-won.