Korea to invest $1.9 bil. to become global vaccine hub

President Moon Jae-in speaks during a meeting at Cheong Wa Dae, Thursday, on his plan to make Korea a global vaccine hub. The President unveiled the government’s strategy for Korea to become one of the top five countries in vaccine production by investing 2.2 trillion won ($1.9 billion) over the next five years. Yonhap

Moon pledges support for domestic vaccine development

By Lee Hyo-jin

Korea aims to become one of the top five countries in vaccine production, with President Moon Jae-in vowing full support for establishing a global vaccine hub and domestic development of vaccines, which will thus contribute to a stable global supply of COVID-19 vaccines.

The Moon administration announced Thursday it would invest 2.2 trillion won ($1.9 billion) over the next five years into the vaccine industry, designating it as one of the nation’s strategic industries.

“Without a sufficient supply of vaccines for all countries, we will not be able to prevent the spread of the coronavirus amid continuous emergence of new variants. Korea will take the lead in solving this problem by becoming a global vaccine production hub,” Moon said during a meeting with government officials and medical experts at Cheong Wa Dae.

It was an inaugural meeting of a joint committee consisting of governmental bodies, pharmaceutical companies and medical experts to develop strategies for making the country into a global vaccine manufacturing hub.

Although the committee will be led by Prime Minster Kim Boo-kyum, the President convened the first meeting, showing the administration’s strong will to achieve this goal, according to the presidential office.

The committee consists of officials from related ministries such as the Ministry of Economy and Finance and the Ministry of Health and Welfare, along with 12 representatives of the private sector including the heads of the Korea Pharmaceutical and Bio-Pharma Manufacturers Association and the Korea Biomedicine Industry Association and the director general of the International Vaccine Institute.

Representatives of four domestic pharmaceutical firms ― SK Bioscience, Samsung Biologics, ST Pharm and Ecell ― also attended the meeting.

Health Minister Kwon Deok-cheol speaks during a press briefing on a plan to turn Korea into a global vaccine hub, at Government Complex Seoul, Thursday. Yonhap

As a part of its efforts to turn Korea into a global vaccine hub, the Moon administration plans to expand partnerships with other countries and international organizations.

“While ensuring that the Korea-U.S vaccine partnership leads to practical results, we will expand vaccine cooperation with other countries such as the United Kingdom and Germany,” Moon said.

Korea and the U.S. agreed in May on building a comprehensive global vaccine partnership during Moon’s summit with U.S. President Joe Biden in Washington, D.C. The two sides vowed to cooperate in the development and production of vaccines by combining the U.S.’s technology and supply of raw and subsidiary materials with Korea’s biopharmaceutical production capacity.

During his talks with European leaders at the G7 summit in June, President Moon showed Korea’s willingness to form vaccine partnerships with other countries as it did with the U.S.

Moon also pledged support for localizing vaccine development, expressing hope for the country to see commercialization of its first domestically developed vaccines within the first half of 2022.

“The government will provide financial support needed for clinical trials to realize speedy development of domestic vaccines, as well as other support such as local production of raw materials.”

According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare, seven domestic pharmaceutical firms are conducting clinical trials on their COVID-19 vaccine candidates. Of those, SK Bioscience is expected to enter phase 3 testing in the latter half of this year.

“We will help domestic vaccine developers in carrying out their phase 3 trials with financial support of 166.7 billion won,” Health Minister Kwon Deok-cheol said during a press briefing.

The health ministry will also implement measures to expedite approval processes and help the firms recruit trial participants.

Korea to invest $1.9 bil. to become global vaccine hub
Source: Buhay Kapa PH