Biotechnology service company GW Biotech (CEO Yang Jaewon) announced on the 7th that it has signed an agreement with the Korea Veterinary Medical Association (President Heo Joohyeong), a representative organization of veterinarians in Korea, to establish countermeasures against zoonotic infectious diseases.
(Photo from left) Heo Ju-hyung, President of the Korean Veterinary Medical Association, and Yang Jae-won, CEO of GW Biotech, are taking a commemorative photo after signing the MOU agreement. / Photo by GW Biotech
Through this business agreement, the two organizations will mutually cooperate on the development of test kits, establishment of testing systems, and vaccine development for the prevention and management of zoonotic infectious diseases, enabling them to utilize the expertise each side possesses.
GW Biotech and the Korea Veterinary Medical Association recently focused on the increasing cases of transmission between humans and animals, including fatalities caused by Severe Fever with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome (SFTS) infections. They also agreed on the need to establish a prevention and management system in preparation for the potential rise of vector-borne infectious diseases such as malaria, SFTS, dengue fever, and tsutsugamushi disease, due to changes in the habitats of vectors like mosquitoes, ticks, and rodents caused by global warming. In addition to zoonotic infectious diseases, they discussed joint efforts on overall One Health-related total care for companion animals.
In this regard, GW Biotech plans to accelerate the development of simple kits, RT-PCR testing methods, and testing services capable of diagnosing zoonotic infectious diseases such as SFTS and tsutsugamushi disease, as well as Babesia disease, which has seen increased incidence due to recent climate changes, by actively deploying genome analysis experts with over 20 years of experience by the end of this year. The company will launch the brand C.A. Lab (Companion Animal Laboratory) to provide care services for zoonotic infectious diseases and plans to officially enter the market by listing highly specialized testing services and diagnostic kits on the 'Veterinarian Market' platform.
The company is also participating in the Ajou University Medical Center's research-oriented hospital development R&D project and is conducting research with Ajou University Medical Center on vaccines, diagnostics, and treatments for zoonotic infectious diseases including COVID-19. The company explained that it is actively working to promote the health of both humans and companion animals.
CEO Yang Jaewon stated, “GW Biotech is a company that has been preparing to produce vaccines for COVID-19, a representative zoonotic infectious disease,” adding, “The urgent need to establish infection response measures for animals at an early stage became the opportunity to cooperate with the Korea Veterinary Medical Association.”
President Heo Joohyeong of the Korea Veterinary Medical Association said, “If the veterinary association’s expertise, which includes over 22,000 veterinarian members nationwide, is combined with GW Biotech’s bio-research infrastructure such as multi-omics fields including genomics, metabolomics, proteomics, and vaccine technology, we can expect a definite synergy effect in establishing a zoonotic infectious disease testing system.”
Meanwhile, according to the ‘2023 Korea Companion Animal Report’ by KB Management Research Institute, animal hospitals were ranked as the most trusted channel for pet care information. In particular, the proportion of guardians choosing ‘animal hospitals’ as their trusted pet care information channel increased by 2.3 percentage points from 20.3% in 2021 to 22.6% in 2023. The results indicate that veterinarians remain the most reliable source of information, and pet care solutions through veterinarians are expected to further develop in the future.
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
