[Asia Economy Reporter Chunhee Lee] The Korea Health Industry Development Institute (KHIDI) announced on the 10th that it operated the "Korea-Australia Biohealth Exchange Delegation" from the 24th of last month to the 2nd of this month in Perth, Melbourne, and Sydney, Australia, to promote the development and expand cooperation of the domestic biohealth industry.
The exchange delegation began its schedule by participating in "AusBiotech 2022," held in Perth from the 26th to the 28th of last month. On the 30th and 31st of last month, the delegation spent two days in Melbourne discussing follow-up measures for the RNA cooperation MOU signed earlier in March with the Victoria state government. Then, on the 1st, they also attended the "Korea-New South Wales Business Forum" held in Sydney.
AusBiotech 2022 is a specialized convention for Australia's health industry. This year's event, held offline for the first time in three years since COVID-19, was attended by over 1,000 experts worldwide in life sciences, pharmaceuticals, and bio sectors, featuring more than 40 conference sessions.
KHIDI operated a "KHIDI Promotion Booth" at the venue to promote the excellence of Korean biohealth companies and supported business meetings and partnering with overseas companies. Igen, which develops messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines, agreed to further discussions on joint vaccine-related research and new pipeline development with a major research-focused hospital in Western Australia. Molecular diagnostic kit company SolGent decided to explore sales networks for entering the Australian market and consider collaboration with companies equipped with new devices that SolGent does not possess. Biohealth IT company Softnet agreed to continue discussions related to an IoT-based smart medicine box developed by an Australian company.
Hong Gijong, head of the Emerging Infectious Disease mRNA Vaccine Project Group, introduced the current research status and discussed prospects related to mRNA vaccine technology in Korea during the session titled "The Potential of mRNA Technology for New Therapeutics Beyond COVID-19."
On the 30th of last month, a preliminary meeting hosted by the Australian Trade and Investment Commission and supported by KHIDI, the Victoria state government, and the Korean Consulate in Melbourne reaffirmed the current status and commitment to Korea-Australia cooperation. The following day, they discussed follow-up measures for the MOU signed in March regarding cooperation in RNA-based vaccines and therapeutics. Both sides agreed to dispatch short-term personnel starting from the first half of next year to smoothly promote cooperative projects, aim to secure budgets for 2024, and negotiate the scope, targets, and duration of joint research. As part of this, they also agreed to co-host an online symposium.
Kim Youngok, KHIDI's Director of Planning and the representative of the exchange delegation who attended the Melbourne schedule, said, "Through this visit to Australia, we once again confirmed the Victoria state government's commitment to investment and cooperation in the health industry sector. Based on this, KHIDI will continue to strive to strengthen cooperation in the bioindustry sector between Korea and Australia."
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