Received 17.6 Billion Won in Research Funding Over 4 Years
A research team at Catholic University has been selected as a national research project recipient by the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Korea Health Industry Development Institute. They will receive a total research fund of 17.6 billion KRW until 2029.
According to Catholic University on the 5th, a consortium including Professor Choi Seong-wook's team from the Department of Biomedical Chemical Engineering was selected as a national research project recipient for the "Development of a Decentralized Vaccine Production System" in the "Korean ARPA-H Project New Support Target Project" competition hosted by the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Korea Health Industry Development Institute. This will accelerate research to establish a system that can rapidly produce mRNA vaccines within 100 days to respond to the early stages of a pandemic situation.
The Korean ARPA-H (Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health) project is a program that aims to solve healthcare challenges and promote innovative changes in the medical and health service fields, similar to the innovative ARPA-H project in the United States healthcare sector.
The selected project is led by the International Vaccine Institute (IVI), an international organization for vaccine development, and is conducted by a consortium consisting of Professor Choi Seong-wook's team at Catholic University, InventiZ Lab, and Engenomics. It will be supported with a total research fund of 17.6 billion KRW over 4 years and 6 months until February 2029.
The consortium aims to establish a system capable of producing 1 million doses of mRNA vaccines, enough to vaccinate 1 million people, within 100 days in the event of an infectious disease outbreak such as COVID-19. To achieve this, the entire manufacturing process of mRNA vaccines?including mRNA design and optimization, synthesis, lipid nanoparticle vaccine formulation, and mass production?will be modularized, and a system will be built to produce vaccines in containers dedicated to vaccine production.
During the research process, Professor Choi Seong-wook's team at Catholic University will be responsible for developing mRNA synthesis processes and vaccine delivery technologies. The International Vaccine Institute will handle immunogenicity evaluation of mRNA vaccines and the production of containers to install mRNA synthesis and vaccine manufacturing modules. InventiZ Lab, a drug delivery system platform company, will develop mass production processes and equipment for high-quality lipid nanoparticle vaccines, while Engenomics, a bio company producing enzymes and other materials, will supply domestically produced raw materials for mRNA synthesis.
Professor Choi Seong-wook of the Department of Biomedical Chemical Engineering at Catholic University said, "By developing a process that can continuously synthesize mRNA, departing from the existing synthesis process, we can maximize the stable production efficiency of mRNA," adding, "Through this ARPA-H consortium project, we expect to secure foundational technology that enables rapid initial response when infectious diseases like COVID-19 occur in the future."
Song Man-gi, Scientific Secretary at the International Vaccine Institute, stated, "Research and development collaboration is essential for the rapid development and production of advanced vaccines, including mRNA vaccines," and added, "We will actively join forces with related institutions and companies to secure the capability to produce mRNA vaccines early in the event of new infectious disease outbreaks in Korea."
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