by Jang Hyowon
Published 21 Apr.2022 10:37(KST)
[Asia Economy Reporter Jang Hyowon] As President-elect Yoon Seok-yeol announced active promotion of the digital healthcare industry in the advanced medical field, Medicloud is set to seize the 610 trillion won digital healthcare market based on a genetic analysis platform.
Medicloud, a precision medicine company specializing in personalized genetic information, announced on the 21st that the development of its global genetic analysis platform has entered the final stage.
Since May 2019, Medicloud has been collaborating with global life sciences company Thermo Fisher Scientific Korea to focus on securing customized medical genome data and building a world-class genetic analysis platform. The company plans to complete the development of the global genetic analysis platform by next year and accelerate its IPO efforts, supported by strengthened digital healthcare policies.
President-elect Yoon Seok-yeol announced plans to foster biohealthcare as one of the five mega tech sectors. In particular, he intends to actively promote the digital healthcare industry in the advanced medical field. To advance precision medicine, a full genetic analysis will be conducted on a cohort of one million people, and personalized healthcare service projects will be developed.
In line with this, Medicloud is promoting participation in the construction and utilization of big data for health and medical information as part of the Well-Aging Human Healthcare Valley project. The company is in the final stages of building a consortium with domestic pharmaceutical companies and university hospitals. This research aims to develop various medical service provision systems through the construction of data in the field of health and medical information utilization.
In particular, while the U.S. allowed 200 types of genetic tests in the DTC (Direct-to-Consumer) service where consumers directly undergo genetic testing, South Korea had a limitation of only 13 tests permitted. From this year, the policy will allow up to 50 tests. Based on this, it is expected that the DTC market will expand due to increased test items and expanded collaboration between companies, thereby enlarging the diagnostic market itself.
Lee Hyung-gi, CEO and Director of Medicloud, said, “Recently, the genetic information medical field, including the construction of a one million genetic cohort, has become a major issue in biohealthcare. Medicloud has proceeded with the personalized genetic information precision medicine business with confidence that genes are the cornerstone of the future in advanced countries' biohealthcare sectors.”
He added, “Since 2019, we have made active investments worth 3 billion won to become a company capable of building a genetic analysis database in cooperation with the government, and we continue strategic collaboration with the global leader Thermo Fisher Scientific Korea. Based on this, we will leap forward as a leading company in personalized genetic information precision medicine among the five mega tech sectors of biohealthcare.”
Meanwhile, according to market research firm GIA, the global digital healthcare industry, valued at $152.5 billion (approximately 180 trillion won) in 2020, is expected to grow at an average annual rate of 18.8%, reaching $508.8 billion (approximately 610 trillion won) by 2027.
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