Actively Utilizing Radiation Technology for the Treatment of Rare and Intractable Diseases

Ministry of Science and ICT Holds Meeting with Industry-Academia-Research Experts to Develop Measures

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[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bong-su] The government is joining forces with industry, academia, and research institutes to promote the use of radiation in the treatment of rare and intractable diseases.

On the 2nd, the Ministry of Science and ICT held a meeting chaired by First Vice Minister Yong Hong-taek with experts from industry, academia, and research to discuss ways to utilize domestic radiation technology capabilities for the treatment of rare and intractable diseases.

At this meeting, Dr. Seo Ho-sung from the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute presented the current status of rare and intractable diseases in Korea and the level of radiation therapy technology, followed by an open discussion among attendees to exchange opinions.

At the meeting, experts pointed out, “There are many patients suffering from various rare and intractable diseases in Korea, but there are almost no domestically produced treatments, so patients rely on foreign pharmaceuticals, resulting in a heavy financial burden. Rare and intractable diseases receive insufficient private investment due to reasons such as low demand relative to the severity of the diseases, and radiation therapy technology has traditionally focused on cancer diagnosis or treatment, leaving research on the use of radiation for rare and intractable diseases in a blind spot.”

They also emphasized, “Using radiation technology can shorten the drug development period for diseases without effective treatments yet, such as latent tuberculosis, and domestic production of treatments for diseases like neuroendocrine cancer, which currently depend on imports, can reduce treatment costs.”

Overview of Developing Treatment Methods for Rare Intractable Diseases Using Radioactive Materials.

According to the Ministry of Science and ICT, severe tuberculosis, infectious endocarditis, and neuroendocrine cancer are among the diseases that can be treated using radiation technology. Among these, severe tuberculosis affects about 28.3 people per 100,000 population, approximately 14,150 patients, but indirect diagnosis has a high misdiagnosis rate and direct diagnosis takes a long time. Treatment requires long-term medication with risks of severe side effects and increased drug-resistant strains. Infectious endocarditis affects about 3.8 people per 100,000 population, approximately 1,900 patients, with no early diagnostic methods or preventive vaccines available, and antibiotic use leads to increased resistant strains, causing problems. Neuroendocrine cancer affects about 1.5 people per 100,000 population, approximately 2,500 patients, with early diagnosis being difficult and treatments such as radioactive isotopes needing to be imported from overseas.

In this regard, radiation technology can secure large quantities of new drug candidates in a short period through precise molecular transformation or assembly. It can also visualize drug efficacy evaluation using radioactive isotopes, and directly apply radioactive isotopes for precise targeting of specific cancer cells.

Experts stated, “If radiation molecular transformation and assembly technology, as well as radioactive isotope drug efficacy evaluation technology, are advanced to be applied throughout the entire new drug development process, it will greatly contribute to the development of domestically produced innovative new drugs,” urging the Ministry of Science and ICT to actively engage in developing related core technologies.

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