HLB BioStep "Kim Seok-ho CTO Awarded Presidential Citation for Vaccine Evaluation Technology Development"

Successful Development of Korea's First Non-Clinical Model for Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease Vaccine

HLB BioStep announced on the 25th that Dr. Kim Seok-ho, CTO (Chief Technology Officer), received the Presidential Citation in recognition of his contributions to the national research and development performance evaluation sector at the 2023 Science and Information Communication Day ceremony held at the Korea Science and Technology Center on the 21st.

Dr. Kim was awarded this citation for his achievement in developing a non-clinical animal model capable of accurately evaluating the efficacy of hand, foot, and mouth disease vaccines and therapeutics. Vaccines and treatments for hand, foot, and mouth disease have not yet been approved domestically or globally, making this a field urgently in need of new drug development. When vaccines and pharmaceuticals for hand, foot, and mouth disease are developed in the future, Dr. Kim’s animal model will enable efficacy evaluation at the non-clinical stage. The research results were jointly patented by Dr. Kim Seok-ho and the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, with the patent registration completed in April 2021.

Previously, in 2020, Dr. Kim also developed a non-clinical evaluation animal model for COVID-19, a zoonotic infectious disease. He stated, "I am very honored to receive the Presidential Citation following the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety’s Best Researcher Award for developing the non-clinical evaluation model for hand, foot, and mouth disease vaccines and therapeutics. Moving forward, I will continue to research and develop detailed evaluation models for various diseases with high unmet medical needs to enhance Korea’s non-clinical efficacy testing capabilities."

HLB BioStep provides new drug development companies with technologies that include not only traditional efficacy evaluation techniques but also cutting-edge methods such as gene therapy analysis for messenger RNA (mRNA), which has recently gained attention. Recently, the company has also been conducting animal alternative testing research, including the development of organ-on-a-chip technology, where human organ cells are cultured on electronic chips, and organoid development, which involves three-dimensional culturing of human organ cells.

Dr. Seokho Kim, Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of HLB BioStep.
[Photo by HLB BioStep]

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