Pharmaceutical and Bio Industry "Government's New Market Creation Strategy Expected to Be a Catalyst for Global Competitiveness"

Welcome for Promotion of Workforce Development and Control Tower Installation
Additional Deregulation Efforts and Suggestions for 'Selection and Concentration'

President Yoon Suk-yeol is speaking at the Biohealth New Market Creation Strategy Meeting held at the Blue House Guesthouse on the 28th.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

The government’s announcement of the 'Biohealth New Market Creation Strategy' to secure global competitiveness in the biohealth industry has been unanimously welcomed by the related industries. As the government has expressed its commitment to fostering the pharmaceutical and bio industries, there are calls to accelerate follow-up measures, strengthen efforts to train personnel, and actively ease regulations.

Won Hee-mok, chairman of the Korea Pharmaceutical and Bio-Pharma Manufacturers Association, told Asia Economy on the 28th, "It is positive that the establishment of the Pharmaceutical Bio Innovation Committee, a long-standing demand of the industry, has been repeatedly formalized, and that a 'K-Bio Vaccine' fund will be created to invest in late-stage clinical trials requiring large-scale funding, providing a catalyst for nurturing global competitiveness."

Among the contents included in this strategy, the establishment of the pan-government 'Digital and Biohealth Innovation Committee (Pharmaceutical Bio Innovation Committee)' has been a policy continuously requested by the industry. This is because a control tower overseeing government ministries’ functions is necessary to foster the entire lifecycle of the pharmaceutical and bio industry. Alongside this, the K-Bio Vaccine fund mentioned is being promoted to stimulate research and development by creating a fund worth 1 trillion KRW for global new drug development.

Chairman Won also evaluated, "It reflects the government’s will to nurture the pharmaceutical and bio industry as a 'future growth engine'." Specifically, he pointed to the training of pharmaceutical and bio professionals and the introduction of a 'Korean-style ARPA-H project.' Among the announced contents are plans to nurture customized professional talent needed on-site, such as the introduction of a Biohealth Meister University and support for strengthening practical education tailored to the field through the establishment of large-scale production process training facilities. In particular, the 'Korean-style ARPA-H project' is attracting attention as an innovative research and development system related to health and medical care. ARPA-H, established in the U.S. last year, is an organization dedicated to challenging research and development to solve socially valuable issues such as cancer and infectious diseases. It is understood that this will be introduced in a Korean style.

The announcement also broadly included measures to foster the artificial intelligence (AI) and digital health industries. To promote technological innovation using digital technology, support for the entire lifecycle including research and development, clinical trials, and verification is planned, along with strategies for developing medical technologies utilizing data and AI. Seo Beom-seok, CEO of Lunit, who attended the strategy meeting, said, "The government’s demonstrated interest and strong support for the biohealth industry will greatly help expand Korea’s advanced medical AI technology, recognized in the global market, to a wider range of countries."

However, the industry sees many challenges that still need to be addressed. A representative from the digital medical industry said, "While the commitment to foster the biohealth industry and medical AI is encouraging, realistically, issues such as reimbursement rates must be resolved for the industry to thrive domestically," adding, "Since the AI medical market is still in its early stages, there are practical problems, and we hope the government will actively pursue regulatory relaxation." Given that this strategy announcement covers a wide range of fields including pharmaceuticals, bio, digital health, and AI, there are also opinions that selection and concentration will be necessary going forward. A pharmaceutical industry insider commented, "It seems that many topics were raised at this early stage of discussion, but it is too broad. I think it will start this way and then narrow down, but selection and focus are also needed."

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