Lightfund Supports R&D for Infectious Disease Vaccines and Therapeutics

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Chun-hee] The Global Health Technology Research Fund ‘RIGHT Fund’ is launching support for research and development (R&D) of vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostic technologies to respond to infectious diseases.

The RIGHT Fund announced on the 20th that it will support ‘Product Development Award (PDA)’ for developing vaccine, therapeutic, and diagnostic platforms for infectious diseases, and ‘Evidence Generation Award (EGA)’ to assess the current status and demand for digital health utilization in low- and middle-income countries. Applications for this announcement will be accepted through the official RIGHT Fund website until August 16.

The Product Development Award supports projects conducting R&D on vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostic platforms that address unmet medical needs caused by infectious diseases occurring in low- and middle-income countries. The support amount is up to 4 billion KRW per project. The project team must include a corporation based in Korea, but joint research with overseas companies and research institutes is actively encouraged.

The Evidence Generation Award supports projects researching the application status and gaps of digital health technologies in low- and middle-income countries or the relevant regions. Up to 200 million KRW is provided per project. The research team must include institutions or companies located in the target region or country. Joint research among multiple countries and with Korean-based corporations is also encouraged.

The RIGHT Fund is an international health research fund based in Korea, established in 2018 through public-private cooperation involving the Korean government (Ministry of Health and Welfare), the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), and domestic life science companies such as Chong Kun Dang, GC Green Cross, Genexine, KT, LG Chem, SK Bioscience, SD Biosensor, Bioneer, UbioLogics, and Quratis. Since 2019, the year following its establishment, it has selected a total of 42 projects through open calls and supported approximately 50 domestic and international institutions and companies with a total of 47.7 billion KRW in research funding.

The RIGHT Fund plans to hold an online briefing session on the research support program in early next month. Detailed information about the briefing schedule and the currently open research support program can be found on the official RIGHT Fund website.

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