"Advanced Medical Devices Now Shared... Daegu Smart Wellness Special Zone 'Achieves Results'"

Government, University, and Industry Collaboration Dramatically Reduces Facility Investment
Each Company Participating in Joint Manufacturing Plant Cuts Investment by 2 Billion Won

3D printer for medical devices.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Dong-wook] Daegu City announced that starting from the 4th, it will officially begin demonstration work for the establishment of an advanced medical device joint manufacturing center and the joint designation of quality managers within the Smart Wellness Regulatory Free Zone.

The Daegu Smart Wellness Regulatory Free Zone, designated in July last year, is a representative medical and healthcare special zone that integrates advanced ICT technology into the medical field.

The "Joint Manufacturing Center Demonstration Project" is a project where the government, universities, and companies collaborate to create a service platform for joint manufacturing of advanced medical devices, conduct effectiveness demonstrations for regulatory improvements, and simultaneously generate industrialization outcomes.

Under existing regulations such as the Medical Device Act, there are practical barriers to entry for medical device manufacturing, including the need for GMP (Good Manufacturing Practice) certified manufacturing facilities and securing quality managers.

In this context, the Daegu Smart Wellness Regulatory Free Zone provides an environment where multiple companies can share a single factory through a joint manufacturing center, reducing the investment cost of 3D printer equipment by at least 2 billion KRW.

According to Daegu City, the 12 companies participating in the demonstration through the establishment of the advanced medical device joint manufacturing center in the zone will achieve a reduction effect in initial investment costs amounting to 24 billion KRW (2 billion KRW per company).

The joint manufacturing center demonstration project is led by the Industry-Academic Cooperation Foundation of Kyungpook National University, with participation from 12 zone project operators including MENTISLOGIC Co., Ltd. They have begun producing prototypes of 3D-printed medical devices for eight advanced medical device items such as artificial joints, and plan to pursue product commercialization through approval from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety in the first half of this year.

It is expected that once medical device commercialization is achieved through this demonstration, the time and cost required for product development and production by medical device manufacturers will be drastically reduced, leading the growth of the domestic 3D printing medical device industry.

Hong Eui-rak, Deputy Mayor for Economic Affairs of Daegu City, emphasized, "In the Daegu Smart Wellness Regulatory Free Zone, companies will be able to create new business models through innovation in manufacturing processes," adding, "We will lead the innovative growth of the advanced medical device industry by pioneering the personalized medical device field using 3D printing."

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