(Health Korea News / Yoo Ji-in) The government will launch the National Biotechnology Committee within the next week to discuss bio policy, foster more than three pharmaceutical bio unicorns (corporate value of KRW 1 trillion), and achieve more than KRW 30 trillion in bio venture technology exports over the next three years. He said he would do it.
Acting President Choi Sang-mok, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Strategy and Finance, presided over a meeting of ministers related to current state affairs (economic ministers’ meeting, industrial competitiveness strengthening ministers’ meeting) at the Seoul Government Complex on the morning of the 15th and discussed ways to create an innovation ecosystem for pharmaceutical bio ventures.
Acting President Choi said at the event, “We will accelerate support for the bio sector, which is a key new growth engine and game changer for our economy,” and added, “We will create an ecosystem where venture companies, which are key players in pharmaceutical and biotechnology innovation, can grow strongly.” “I will create it,” he said.
Acting Director Choi said, “A professional incubator will select promising bio startups and launch a new program starting in February that will provide close support from start-up to profit generation,” and added, “A 400 billion won bio project will be launched to provide intensive support from discovery of candidate substances to new drug development.” “We will also create a new fund within this year,” he said.
He then mentioned, “We will officially launch the National Biotechnology Committee next week to discuss fundamental bio policy direction and great transformation strategy.”
According to the main details released by the government, a new fund will be created to promote strategic collaboration between domestic bio ventures and domestic and foreign pharmaceutical and bio companies. During the first half of this year, a fund (approximately 50 billion won) will be created with the joint participation of 14 domestic pharmaceutical companies and Japanese bio-related companies.
The government plans to encourage bold investments by domestic and foreign pharmaceutical companies by providing incentives such as preferential loss provision, excess profit transfer, and share purchase rights (call options) that can reduce the possibility of loss of private funds and increase profits.
The K-Bio/Vaccine Fund will also be continuously created to break away from the generic-centered industrial structure and create blockbuster new drugs for domestic innovative companies.
The government plans to form funds 3 to 5 (each worth 100 billion won) within the year and promote the creation of 600 billion won by the end of the year. Targets of government fund investment include pharmaceutical bio companies and vaccine companies that have received approval for clinical trial plans for new drug development (No. 1), and companies developing innovative technologies related to vaccines and all biohealth fields, including pharmaceuticals (No. 2 to 4).
‘New drug pipeline joint development’ based on the division of labor between pharmaceutical companies and bio ventures will also be carried out. The plan is to combine the technological capabilities of bio ventures with the new drug development platform of pharmaceutical companies.
A growth plan for bio start-ups was also prepared to commercialize original technology. The ‘Company Builder Track’, which closely supports bio startups, will be introduced and the establishment of an initial technology commercialization roadmap will be supported.
We will also strengthen the incubation, support, and connection of pharmaceutical bio startups in regional and metropolitan areas through strategic collaboration with bio-specialized innovation organizations. The K-Bio Lab Hub, which will be built in Songdo, Incheon, will be designed to meet the needs of bio ventures that develop new drugs through cooperation between industry, academia, research institutes, and hospitals.
The technology development support system for bio ventures will also be upgraded. We plan to plan technological cooperation with foreign countries with extensive experience in research and development (R&D) to explore candidate substances and new drug development, and to activate technological cooperation that reflects the demand in clinical fields through one-on-one matching between clinicians and start-up companies.
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