The government will create a K-Bio Vaccine Fund worth 1 trillion won by 2025 to promote bio-health exports. In addition, 2.2 trillion won will be invested in the national new drug development project (21-30 years) to succeed in innovative new drugs.
On the 24th, Health and Welfare Minister Cho Gyu-hong announced the ‘Biohealth Industry Export Promotion Strategy Plan’ together with related ministries at the Emergency Economic Ministers’ Meeting and the Export Investment Countermeasures Meeting.
This is a follow-up to the ‘4th Export Strategy Meeting’ and the ‘Biohealth New Market Creation Strategy’ published in February.
How to promote biopharmaceutical exports
The Ministry of Health and Welfare is first creating a large-scale fund to support global clinical trials as a way to boost biopharmaceutical production capacity.
The size of the K-Bio Vaccine Fund is expected to increase from 500 billion won in the first half of 2023 to 1 trillion won by 2025. In addition, a plan to collaborate with ministries to provide incentives for domestic companies to increase their investment in production facilities will be review it.
In order to develop innovative new drugs that have increased interest after Corona 19, 2.2 trillion won will be invested in the national new drug development project (21-30 years) and there will be open innovation with innovative bioenterprises focused on companies pharmaceuticals and foreign pharmaceutical companies. be supported.
If an enterprise company discovers an innovative new drug candidate, it will help the commercialization of technology, clinical trials abroad, and the process of upgrading the production process in one fell swoop.
Domestic new drugs also help with global approval. Currently, in the case of 5 to 6 innovative new drugs made in Korea, sales growth is expected through domestic and foreign approvals.
In addition, in order to expand the pharmaceutical market, it provides information on the public procurement market by establishing a network with the ‘United States Healthcare Distribution Association (US pharmaceutical distributor)’.
Through government-to-government cooperation, export barriers will be eased, and foreign policies and market trends will be identified to discuss cooperation plans. In addition to Singapore, the number of countries that recognize GMP for joint export drugs will be expanded, and countries that simplify the licensing process, such as Ecuador, Peru and Uzbekistan, will also be expanded .
In order to solve the difficulties of front-line bio pharmaceutical companies, a ‘Pharma Bio Export One-Stop Comprehensive Support Center’ will be established to establish a one-stop export support system.
How to support the expansion of innovative medical devices abroad
In addition, the Ministry of Health and Welfare is supporting domestic companies to participate in international procurement to restore export performance in the field of in vitro diagnostic devices, which has grown rapidly due to COVID-19. WHO’s procurement amount is about 1.7 billion dollars, but Korea only accounts for 1.3% of the amount.
In addition, it will support the research and development of various in vitro diagnostic devices such as new infectious diseases, chronic diseases such as diabetes, cancer, heart disease, and serious diseases, to promote global in vitro diagnostic demonstration projects.
In particular, for items with technological competitiveness, such as diagnostic imaging devices and dental materials, we plan to secure an overseas distribution network to support participation in major exhibitions and professional medical associations.
In addition, in order to improve the reliability of domestic products, we support clinical trials as well as joint research with medical institutions and companies in major exporting countries such as the United States and Japan. This is expected to be used as a basis for obtaining licenses in the country in the future.
Support for the expansion of innovative medical devices overseas such as digital healthcare and software through intergovernmental cooperation such as foreign embassies in Korea, diplomatic missions abroad, and trade centers.
With the purpose of creating an open innovation environment, it was decided to implement a ‘Medtech Innovation Fair’, a joint public-private forum for technology transfer, research collaboration, and investment links.
Health and Welfare Minister Cho Kyu-hong said, “The biohealth industry has placed 7th in terms of exports for the past three consecutive years (20-22).
He continued, “Export conditions are expected to deteriorate due to the global economic slowdown, but we will use all government policy capabilities so that the biohealth industry can play a leading role.” We expect that we will discover and support the improvement of a high-level system of measures,” he said.
