Meeting with CEPI Chief, President Moon Requests Support for Hosting Global Vaccine Workforce Hub (Summary)

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy reporters Ryu Jeong-min and Lee Ji-eun] On the 16th, President Moon Jae-in met with Richard Hatchett, CEO of the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), at the Blue House and stated, "We are making it a national goal to develop and produce our own vaccines using our technology." He also requested Hatchett's support for attracting the World Health Organization (WHO) Global Vaccine Bio Workforce Training Hub.

At the meeting, President Moon said, "In particular, the results of the Phase 2 clinical trials of the vaccine developed by SK Bioscience, which CEPI and the Korean government are jointly supporting, appear to be very successful, so expectations are high."

President Moon added, "There is still the Phase 3 trial remaining, and I ask CEPI to maintain interest until the very end so that development can be successfully completed."

President Moon evaluated, "CEPI played a truly important and significant role in responding to this COVID-19 pandemic. Thanks to CEPI's bold support for vaccine development and the CEO's decisive leadership, unprecedentedly rapid vaccine development was achieved, which helped protect many human lives."

He continued, "I believe this is a model case of global cooperation on infectious diseases. Korea joined CEPI last year and is actively cooperating," adding, "Korea is contributing by contract manufacturing various types of vaccines."

CEPI CEO Hatchett said, "Since the outbreak of the pandemic, Korea is the first Asian country I have visited," and evaluated, "It was very impressive how the Korean government and people mobilized all their capabilities to respond successfully to the infectious disease COVID-19."

Hatchett said, "I believe Korea has set a global standard. Especially in responding very quickly and systematically to the infectious disease COVID-19, Korea has established such standards," and added, "When compared to countries of similar size, Korea's number of confirmed COVID-19 cases and deaths is remarkably low."

Hatchett explained, "Korea is well known as a hub for science and technology," and said, "By working with Korean companies such as SK Bioscience and Green Cross Corporation, significant progress has been made in developing and distributing COVID-19 vaccines."

Meanwhile, President Moon requested support for attracting the WHO Bio Workforce Training Hub during the meeting. He said, "Korea aims to host the WHO Global Vaccine Bio Workforce Training Hub to contribute to training vaccine specialists in developing countries," urging CEPI's interest in Korea's workforce training hub initiative.

In response, CEPI CEO Hatchett said, "I am well aware of Korea's global vaccine hub plan," and replied, "Korea possesses all the conditions of a global leading country in vaccines, including excellent vaccine production capacity, outstanding scientific and technological capabilities, deep understanding of infectious diseases, and active government support."

President Moon said, "Since latecomer pharmaceutical companies are developing vaccines through comparative clinical trials, securing comparator vaccines is essential, so please also pay attention to securing comparator vaccines for vaccine developers."

At the meeting, CEPI was represented by Nikolaisen, Korea officer, and Ahn Jae-yong, CEO of SK Bioscience, while Korea was represented by Kwon Deok-cheol, Minister of Health and Welfare, Lee Tae-han, Senior Secretary for Social Affairs, and Nam Young-sook, Economic Secretary.

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