Minister Kwon Chil-seung: "Human Lung Fat Recycling Should Be Systematized... Efforts to Revise Regulations"

Minister of SMEs Visits 'Smart Wellness Regulatory Sandbox' on 9th
Remote Monitoring and 3D Printing Medical Devices Under Demonstration
"Active Promotion of Regulatory Revisions Including Medical Law Through Interagency Cooperation"

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bo-kyung] Kwon Chil-seung, Minister of SMEs and Startups, stated, "We will make every effort to revise regulatory laws to institutionalize the long-standing project of recycling human body fat."

On the 9th, Minister Kwon visited the 'Smart Wellness Regulatory Free Zone' located at the Daegu-Gyeongbuk Advanced Medical Industry Promotion Foundation and made these remarks. This visit was arranged to reflect field opinions in policies through communication with the special zone and to encourage related personnel.

Within the Daegu special zone, collagen, a new medical material, has been extracted from human body fat that was previously discarded and supplied to companies. This laid the foundation for the commercialization of medical device products such as wound dressing materials.

Minister Kwon listened to the difficulties and the need for regulatory law revisions from Endovision, which is developing wound dressing materials derived from human collagen.

In the Daegu Smart Wellness special zone, Kyungpook National University Hospital participated in conducting remote monitoring for kidney transplant patients. They collected biometric information such as patients' blood pressure and blood sugar and carried out home clinical trial demonstrations to identify risk situations, confirming safety and effectiveness similar to face-to-face clinical trials.

Once home clinical trials are officially permitted, it will increase patient safety while reducing clinical trial costs, enabling the medical industry to open a new market for home clinical trials.

An official from the Ministry of SMEs and Startups said, "Based on the results of this demonstration, we plan to actively revise regulatory laws in consultation with related ministries."

Additionally, in the Daegu special zone, several SMEs share 3D printer equipment to produce medical devices such as artificial joints, creating an opportunity to enter the advanced medical device market.

In fact, 12 SMEs including Mentis Logic, which participated in the demonstration, are producing 3D-printed medical device prototypes for eight items including artificial joints. The companies plan to proceed with product commercialization after obtaining approval from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety by next month.

Minister Kwon emphasized, "The purpose of the special zone is to foster new industries that maximize regional strengths for balanced regional development."

He added, "Demonstration projects that make citizens' lives more convenient and protect their health and lives, such as remote monitoring, require prompt revision of regulatory laws. We will actively promote the revision of regulatory laws such as the Medical Service Act in cooperation with related ministries."

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