Park Young-min, Head of New Drug Development, "We Will Achieve Approval of 4 New Drugs in the US and Europe by 2035"

Park Young-min KDDF 2nd Director Inauguration Meeting
Presentation on National New Drug Development Project Promotion Strategy

"We will devote all our efforts to achieving 4 new drug approvals in the US and Europe and completing 1 blockbuster new drug by 2035"

Park Young-min, head of the National New Drug Development Project Group, is making a presentation at the '2nd Inauguration Press Conference of Project Group Head Park Young-min' held on the 20th at Hotel Naru Seoul M Gallery in Mapo, Seoul.
[Photo by Yeom Da-yeon]

Park Young-min, who was inaugurated as the 2nd head of the Korea Drug Development Fund (KDDF), held an inauguration press conference on the morning of the 20th at Hotel Naru Seoul in Mapo-gu, Seoul, presenting this goal.

Director Park began his term as the 2nd KDDF head on the 4th of this month. He currently serves as a professor in the Department of Smart Life Industry Convergence at Sejong University. Graduating from Jeonbuk National University College of Medicine in 1986, he is an expert who has researched intractable diseases and degenerative neurological disorders. He has served as the director of the Ministry of Science and ICT’s Leading Research Center for Basic Medical Science (MRC), director of the Konkuk University Institute of Biomedical Science, and head of the Medical Science Division at the National Research Foundation of Korea. In 2016, he also founded Dandi Bioscience (now HLB Science), a new drug development venture.

Director Park presented a vision to lead the pharmaceutical and bio industries through selection and concentration, creativity, and innovation, along with a goal to achieve 4 new drug approvals from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the European Medicines Agency (EMA), and to create 1 blockbuster new drug by 2035. He emphasized, "With the philosophy of steady progress, not rushing, KDDF, domestic new drug development companies, and government agencies will unite as one and devote all our efforts to achieving this."

Key strategies for this include ▲ expanding support for innovative new drug development projects such as new targets and modalities (therapeutic approaches) ▲ increasing support to resolve bottlenecks and strengthen global competitiveness ▲ establishing a virtuous cycle in the research and development system ▲ enhancing feedback from R&D field voices and establishing an ethics committee.

He pointed out that while Korea’s R&D has high-level research personnel and technological competitiveness, it suffers from a lack of capital, emphasizing 'selection and concentration.' Director Park said, "Korea’s R&D expenditure as a percentage of GDP is 4.8%, ranking second in the world after Israel," but added, "the absolute amount of research funding is not large, so efficient budget execution through selection and concentration is necessary." He further stated, "We will focus intensive support on new modalities such as antibody-drug conjugates (ADC), which global big pharma companies are interested in."

Director Park mentioned ensuring 'equity' through fairness in managing R&D projects. He said, "We will operate project management by providing equal opportunities to researchers and institutions and ensuring equity in results, where support funds vary according to development costs," adding, "We hope that corresponding results and achievements will also be delivered equitably." He also explained, "Many companies find it difficult to participate due to stringent financial statement regulations," and said, "We will reduce the burden on companies by implementing flexible matching programs that lower in-kind contributions and increase success fees, thereby easing the burden on the field."

Park Young-min, Director of the National New Drug Development Project Group, and Kim Soon-nam, Head of R&D, are conducting a Q&A session.
[Photo by Yeom Da-yeon]

Following this, Kim Soon-nam, head of KDDF’s R&D division, explained the support direction for this year’s national new drug development project. He said, "Due to government R&D budget cuts, the number of new projects has significantly decreased," but added, "We aim to support as many projects as possible within the limits of the project budget." The Korea Drug Development Fund selected 118 projects last year and plans to select 78 new projects this year.