"400 Billion Won Invested in Brain Research Over 10 Years"… Digital Bio Powerhouse by 2030

Minister Lee Jong-ho of the Ministry of Science and ICT to Announce Digital Bio Innovation Strategy on the 7th

Minister Lee Jong-ho of the Ministry of Science and ICT is speaking at the Emergency Economic Ministers' Meeting held on the 18th at the Government Seoul Office in Jongno-gu, Seoul. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bong-su] The government plans to invest 400 billion KRW over the next 10 years to focus on brain science research and development (R&D), aiming to leap forward as a digital bio technology powerhouse by the 2030s through innovative strategies.

On the afternoon of the 7th, Minister Lee Jong-ho of the Ministry of Science and ICT visited Korea Bio Park in Pangyo, Gyeonggi Province, held a meeting with resident companies, and announced the digital bio innovation strategy with these details.

The government set the vision of "Entering the Leading Bio Nation by 2030 through Digital Bio in the Era of Bio Transformation," establishing three major goals: securing five major infrastructures and 12 core technologies, achieving 85% of the technology level compared to the world's top countries, and focusing investment on digital bio R&D. Four major promotion strategies and 13 detailed tasks were also defined to achieve this.

First, new-concept bio research and industry will be fostered using information and communication technology (ICT). Starting next year, through a 400 billion KRW investment in advanced brain science R&D over 10 years, technologies such as brain-machine interfaces, brain function and disease visualization, and brain signal measurement and interpretation will be developed and supported through commercialization. Support will be provided for prototype development of new-concept therapeutics using IT technologies such as electronic medicine and digital therapeutics, and development of bionics technologies like biochips or electronic artificial organs applicable to living organisms will also be pursued.

Bio technology will innovate manufacturing industries such as pharmaceuticals, materials, and products. As a core infrastructure of synthetic biology, which was highlighted as an important technology in the U.S. bio executive order implemented last September, the government will actively promote the establishment of biofoundry infrastructure that automates and accelerates bio research and manufacturing processes using artificial intelligence (AI), big data, and robotics technologies. To this end, a preliminary feasibility study has been requested for a 300 billion KRW project through joint planning by the Ministry of Science and ICT and the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. Support will also be provided for the development of technologies for discovering effective substances using the recently spotlighted microbiome and for mass production of effective substances using plants.

New technologies with novel mechanisms and approaches will strengthen disease response capabilities. Since drug discovery based on existing compounds has reached its limits due to depletion of effective substances and constraints of mechanisms of action, the government plans to secure foundational technologies for new drug development using digital analysis technologies and new mechanisms and substances. Support will be provided to secure domestic foundational technologies in areas actively being developed or with successful overseas cases, such as new drugs utilizing protein degradation systems in the body like proteasomes and autophagy, new drugs using genetically engineered immune cells, siRNA, and peptide drugs.

Data-based analysis and control technologies will accelerate the realization of precision medicine. The efficiency of gene editing, control, and restoration technologies, which are core technologies for personalized precision medicine, will be improved by more than twofold. In the stem cell field, a stem cell genome atlas and database systematizing information by tissue and cell origin will be established, and technologies controlling the regenerative ability of such stem cells will also be secured.

Virtualization and modeling technologies will shorten the speed of bio R&D and increase success rates. The drug candidate discovery platform technology using AI will be advanced to support rapid and efficient discovery of various new drug candidates. Development and utilization of human digital twin technology, a modeling technology that designs and predicts genetic information, biological functions, and life mechanisms using big data of living organisms, will also be supported.

A foundation for optimizing and accelerating the discovery, evaluation, and verification of effective substances will be established. An integrated information portal system for 14 major bio materials such as human-derived materials, marine organisms, seeds, and natural products will be built to support discovery and utilization of effective substances. Core technologies for the 'DNA barcode compound bank,' an advanced version of the existing compound bank, will be secured and a public bank will be established to accelerate effective substance discovery. Research to replace existing animal experiments used for performance evaluation of discovered effective substances with organoid (organ mimic) technology will also be supported.

Efforts to create a data-centered bio innovation ecosystem will also be promoted. Specifically, the establishment of a hub platform for sharing bio data at the national level, preparation of a global-level data production, accumulation, and management system, and activation of bio research based on data will be implemented. To lay the foundation for digital bio transformation, active promotion of commercialization of excellent R&D outcomes, expansion of domestic and international cooperation, fusion-type human resource development programs, legal foundation establishment, and regulatory improvements will also be pursued.

Minister Lee Jong-ho stated, "This strategy aims to enhance productivity in bio research and industry through the convergence of the bio field and Korea's advanced digital technologies, laying the cornerstone for entering the advanced bio nations." He added, "It is a biotechnology innovation strategy to enhance Korea's technological competitiveness and self-reliance in response to global bio technology innovation policies such as the U.S. bio executive order leading global technology hegemony and China's five-year bioeconomy plan."