'1st Meeting of the Vaccine, Raw Materials, and Equipment Win-Win Cooperation Council'
[Asia Economy Reporter Seo So-jung] The government plans to support a total of 126.4 billion KRW this year for vaccine and raw material technology development, clinical trials, and commercialization, aiming to become one of the "Top 5 Global Vaccine Production Powers" by 2025. A new project budget of 87.4 billion KRW has been allocated to secure domestic vaccine and raw material technologies as well as mass production process technologies, strengthening policy support for vaccine self-reliance and stable supply chain establishment.
The Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy will hold the "1st Meeting of the Vaccine, Raw Materials, and Equipment Win-Win Cooperation Council" at 3 p.m. on the 20th at the Four Seasons Hotel in Seoul to concretize these plans.
This meeting was arranged as a follow-up to the "Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Win-Win Cooperation for Vaccine Raw Materials" signed during the Prime Minister-led meeting last November. The meeting will be co-chaired by Joo Young-joon, Director-General of Industrial Policy at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, and Lee Kang-ho, Director of the Global Vaccine Hub Promotion Team at the Ministry of Health and Welfare. CEOs of vaccine, raw material, and equipment companies, along with support organizations such as the Korea Bioindustry Association, Korea Pharmaceutical and Bio-Pharma Manufacturers Association, Korea Institute for Advancement of Technology, and Korea Health Industry Development Institute, will participate.
The council consists of vaccine companies such as Samsung Biologics, Celltrion, GC Green Cross, and ST Pharm; raw material and equipment companies like Weatech and Icell; and related institutions supporting technology development and commercialization. The scope of participating companies will be expanded going forward.
The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy plans to invest a total of 40 billion KRW by 2025 to secure domestic technology for six raw material items including key enzymes for vaccines, excipients, purification filters, and resins, as well as to support the development of messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) vaccine production process systems. For companies that have vaccine development technology but lack their own production facilities, contract manufacturing of clinical vaccine samples will be supported using vaccine demonstration centers in Andong and Hwasun.
To ensure smooth supply of vaccine workforce, the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy will jointly establish the "Bio Process Workforce Training Center (K-NIBRT)" in Songdo, aiming to train more than 2,000 specialized personnel annually starting from 2024. The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy plans to provide on-site practical training opportunities to 1,200 people over five years starting this year by utilizing the production facilities at the Andong Vaccine Demonstration Center.
In December last year, the Ministry of Health and Welfare submitted a letter of intent to the World Health Organization (WHO) to be designated as a "Global Bio Workforce Training Hub." If Korea is selected as a global bio workforce training hub, it will comprehensively oversee education and training for bioindustry personnel worldwide and provide consulting services to bio companies.
Lee Kang-ho, Director of the Ministry of Health and Welfare, said, "For domestic vaccine raw material and equipment companies to secure competitiveness in domestic and international markets, government-level support for integration into the global supply chain and win-win cooperation between vaccine raw material, equipment demand, and supply companies are very important. We will do our best to ensure that win-win cooperation between large and small businesses, from vaccine raw material and equipment technology development stages to commercial production support, is stably established throughout the vaccine industry."
The government plans to hold the 2nd meeting in April to review vaccine, raw material, and equipment supply and demand trends and discuss support measures.
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