Hong Nam-ki: "Investing 1 Trillion Won Over 6 Years from 2023 to Build Bio Big Data for 1 Million People"

On the 26th, Visit to Seoul National University Hospital Medical Research Innovation Center
Announcement of 'Establishing a Foundation for Leapfrogging into a Global Vaccine Hub' during the Second Half Economic Policy Direction

Deputy Prime Minister for Economy Hong Nam-ki is receiving an explanation about the medical device usability suitability test requested by a company before the Innovation Growth BIG3 Promotion Meeting held at the Medical Research Innovation Center of Seoul National University Hospital on May 26, 2021.

[Asia Economy Reporter Jang Sehee] The government is launching comprehensive support measures to foster the growth of the domestic medical device industry. The goal is to achieve 7th place in the global market share by 2025.

Hong Nam-ki, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance, stated at the Innovation Growth BIG3 Promotion Meeting held on the 26th at the Medical Research Innovation Center of Seoul National University Hospital, "Starting from 2023, we will invest about 1 trillion won over six years to build bio big data on 1 million people." Additionally, the government plans to fully establish the 'National Integrated Bio Data Dam' by 2023, collecting bio big data from 1 million people, including 400,000 patients by disease and 600,000 voluntary participants.

At the meeting, Deputy Prime Minister Hong also announced that measures to establish a foundation for becoming a global vaccine hub will be announced soon.

He emphasized, "In response to the rapidly changing bio industry environment, we will provide comprehensive support including focused investment in research and development (R&D) of core technologies such as new drugs and innovative medical devices, commercialization support, expansion of clinical infrastructure, and cultivation of specialized personnel. South Korea is emerging as a global vaccine hub by contract manufacturing major COVID-19 vaccines such as Moderna and AstraZeneca, while also accelerating domestic vaccine development to secure vaccine sovereignty."

He added, "As seen in the development and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, the biohealth industry has a high possibility of winner-takes-all by technology leaders, so technological competition, time race, and full support are extremely important."

Deputy Prime Minister Hong posted on his social media on the same day, "Biohealth exports have shown a high growth rate of about 40-50% since 2020," and "Bio companies are among the top 10 companies by market capitalization on the KOSPI and KOSDAQ, growing into a key industry of our economy."

Referring to his visit to Senics Biotech and other companies housed in the Medical Research Innovation Center that develop new drugs, Hong said, "I saw a demonstration of a Parkinson’s gait assistance robot, which is expected to become a domestic medical device that can be effectively used for the rehabilitation of severely ill patients."

He continued, "The government will ensure that our companies lead the biohealth market in the global preemptive competition," and emphasized, "We will provide comprehensive support so that this sector can create quality jobs domestically and become a new growth engine." He also added, "Important measures for establishing the foundation for becoming a global vaccine hub will be included in the economic policy direction for the second half of the year."

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