National Pathogen Resource Bank Distributed Coronavirus Samples to 243 Institutions Last Year

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-ju] The National Pathogen Resource Bank of the National Institute of Infectious Diseases at the Korea National Institute of Health announced on the 30th that it provided 4,925 strains (187 species) to healthcare research and industries last year.

The National Pathogen Resource Bank collects, manages, and distributes pathogen resources, which are one of the national biological resources. Through securing, resource development, management, and distribution of pathogen resources, it contributes to the advancement of infectious disease-related research and development and the healthcare industry.

Kwon Jun-wook, Director of the National Institute of Health. [Image source=Yonhap News]

The resources distributed and provided by the National Pathogen Resource Bank last year increased by 23.5% compared to the previous year. By type, there were 2,080 bacterial strains (143 species), 109 fungal strains (24 species), 1,038 viral strains (20 species), and 1,698 derivative substances.

In particular, 1,677 strains of the COVID-19 virus were distributed to 243 institutions. By purpose, they were mainly used for diagnostic technology research (77%) and vaccine and therapeutic research (13%).

The top five most distributed species were COVID-19 virus, Escherichia coli (502 strains), Salmonella enterica (203 strains), Influenza virus (179 strains), and Dengue virus (144 strains). Among the COVID-19 virus strains, the Omicron variant (GRA type) was the most distributed with 676 strains.

Kwon Jun-wook, director of the Korea National Institute of Health, said, "By informing domestic healthcare academia, research, and industry stakeholders about the demand trends and utilization status of domestic pathogen resources, it is expected to contribute to the expansion of the use of domestic microbial resources, promotion of research and development in K-bio and pharmaceutical medical industries, and improvement of public health."