Government: "COVID-19 Treatment May Be Released as Early as the End of This Year" (Comprehensive)

2nd Meeting of the Pan-Government Support Group... Vaccine Production Scheduled for the Second Half of Next Year
Blood Collection Allowed Outside Medical Institutions for Plasma Therapy Development

Minister of Health and Welfare Park Neung-hoo and Minister of Science and ICT Choi Ki-young are attending the '2nd Meeting of the Government-wide Support Group for COVID-19 Vaccine Development' held on the 8th at the Chosun Hotel in Jung-gu, Seoul, exchanging opinions. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Cho Hyun-ui] There is a prospect that a new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) treatment being developed domestically could be released as early as the end of this year. Vaccines are expected to begin clinical trials within the year and be produced in the second half of next year.

On the 8th, the government held the 2nd meeting of the Pan-Government Support Group for COVID-19 Treatment and Vaccine Development at the Westin Chosun Hotel in Jung-gu, Seoul, sharing these development trends.

Currently, in the treatment field, seven drug repurposing studies expanding the indications (treatment scope) of already approved drugs are undergoing clinical trials. Some companies among ImmunMed, Pharmicell, Ilyang Pharmaceutical, Bukwang Pharmaceutical, Korea United Pharm, Cellivery, and Kainos Medicine are expected to release treatments within the year. In the vaccine field, three candidate substances will begin clinical trials within the year.

Co-head Park Neung-hoo, Minister of Health and Welfare, said in his opening remarks, "As the spread overseas is not easily slowing down and considering the possibility of a resurgence this fall domestically, the importance of developing treatments and vaccines has increased." He added, "Related ministries will consult on difficulties faced by treatment and vaccine development companies and resolve them quickly through a one-stop system. Since each company’s situation varies, we will provide tailored support ranging from regulatory improvements to research and development (R&D) funding."

The government is pursuing a two-track strategy to rapidly secure treatments and vaccines by focusing capabilities on domestic self-development and stably securing overseas products. Minister Park said, "The basic direction is to unite the capabilities of industry, academia, research, and hospitals to develop quickly domestically, and to stably secure overseas developed products, raw materials, and essential quarantine supplies through a two-track approach."

The Pan-Government Support Group also decided to prepare institutional support measures for plasma treatment development. Plasma treatment requires a large amount of plasma from recovered patients, but blood collection can only be performed by medical institutions, and the Korean Red Cross is not a medical institution, causing difficulties in collecting plasma for research purposes.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare judged that the current situation meets Article 33 of the Medical Service Act, which states "when requested by the head of the state or local government for public interest," allowing the Korean Red Cross to perform blood collection. Additionally, they prepared the "Guidelines for Collecting Plasma from COVID-19 Recovered Patients for Plasma Treatment Development," presenting safe and rapid plasma collection standards, and plan to support the rental of apheresis machines to medical institutions lacking plasma collection equipment.

The Pan-Government Support Group will also prepare private sector support measures for biosafety facilities to promote private companies’ treatment and vaccine development. Evaluation of the efficacy of COVID-19 treatment and vaccine candidates requires Biosafety Level 3 (BL3) facilities. However, private companies find it difficult to build their own facilities, leading to high demand for opening and utilizing public institution BL3 facilities.

Going forward, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency will post a list of BL3 operating institutions on its website, review usage demands, and support connections with the facility operators to facilitate easy use by the private sector.

The government plans to continuously organize related systems as COVID-19 treatment and vaccine development is directly linked to economic activities. Co-head Choi Ki-young, Minister of Science and ICT, emphasized, "Developing treatments and vaccines can eliminate economic uncertainties caused by COVID-19 and is expected to have an economic revitalization effect. In the post-COVID era, treatment and vaccine development is an important task that will stably support Korea’s new economic leap."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.