Expansion of Advanced Regenerative Medicine to Clinic Level Next Year... "Promotion of Clinical Research Activation"

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-ju] The Ministry of Health and Welfare announced on the 27th that it will expand the eligibility for applying to become an Advanced Regenerative Medicine Implementation Institution to clinics and above, and improve the designation and public recruitment system next year to focus on attracting medical institutions equipped with clinical research infrastructure.

An Advanced Regenerative Medicine Implementation Institution refers to a medical institution designated by the Ministry of Health and Welfare to conduct clinical research on advanced regenerative medicine. A total of 56 institutions have been designated and are operating, including 34 last year and 22 this year.

Next year, all medical institutions except birthing centers will be eligible to apply. Considering that investment in facilities and equipment must precede participation as a regenerative medicine institution, the Ministry plans to conditionally designate institutions with a certain foundation as 'Clinical Trial Implementation Institutions' to allow them priority entry into regenerative medicine institutions and support their gradual preparation.

The evaluation criteria, currently consisting of 95 items, were adjusted to about 50 items in response to feedback from the field and experts that the current criteria are complex, excessive, and overlapping. The announcement of the public recruitment plan for next year, reflecting these improvements, is expected to be made in the first quarter of next year.

Kim Young-hak, Director of the Regenerative Medicine Policy Division at the Ministry of Health and Welfare, said, "We have included the expansion of support for advanced regenerative medicine as a national agenda to ensure that clinical research applying advanced regenerative medical treatment technologies is safely and diversely activated in clinical settings, and we are continuously striving to improve the system." He added, "We hope that through the newly improved designation system, capable medical institutions will be able to participate more actively."

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