[NPPC Policy Report] Bio Industry Named as a Key Future Sector Alongside AI: "Regulatory Zeroization and Expanded R&D"

Bio Industry Selected as a “New Growth Engine” in Economic Policy Announcement

Over the next five years under the Lee Jae-myung administration, the bio industry has been identified as a future growth sector to be fostered alongside artificial intelligence (AI). The government plans to make the bio industry a new engine of growth by eliminating regulations, expanding public investment, and increasing R&D (research and development) budgets.

President Lee Jae-myung is speaking at the National Policy Planning Committee Public Report Conference held at the Blue House State Guest House on the 13th. Photo by Yonhap News

On August 13, the Presidential National Policy Planning Committee (NPPC) announced the “Five-Year National Policy Plan” for the Lee Jae-myung administration at the Blue House State Guest House in Jongno-gu, Seoul. As one of its five key policy agendas, the NPPC put forward the goal of “an innovation-driven economy leading the world,” stating, “We will overcome the crisis of low growth by fostering future industries such as artificial intelligence and bio, and lead a new leap forward for the Korean economy through a sustainable energy transition.”

President Lee Jae-myung, even during his presidential campaign, identified the pharmaceutical and bio industry as one of the “Top 10 Tasks for Fostering New Industries Including AI,” emphasizing the need for national investment to secure global top-five competitiveness in bio.

The core elements of the “innovation-driven economy leading the world” include: ▲expanding R&D budgets; ▲creating an environment for basic research; ▲cultivating and attracting top talent; ▲making future strategic industries such as AI and bio-health new growth engines; and ▲driving innovation in key industries such as semiconductors and secondary batteries. The NPPC specifically stated, “We will pursue regulatory zeroization and a shift to negative regulation for national core industries (such as AI, bio-health, and renewable energy), and drive regional innovation through the introduction of mega-special economic zones. We will also strengthen investment in future strategic industries by creating a 100 trillion won National Growth Fund.”

Taeho Jung, Head of the Economic Division 1 of the National Planning Committee, is presenting at the National Planning Committee Public Report Conference held at the Blue House State Guesthouse on the 13th. Photo by Yonhap News

At the public report conference, Taeho Jung, Head of Economic Division 1, emphasized, “By rapidly transforming society around AI, we will become one of the world’s top three powers and foster future strategic industries such as bio, K-culture, and defense as global leading sectors. We will strengthen an innovation ecosystem centered on science and technology, diversify supply chains, and expand our export territory to usher in the era of one trillion dollars (about 1,380 trillion won) in exports.”

Kyunghee Song, Head of Economic Division 2, stated, “Just as the Gyeongbu Expressway in the 1970s and the high-speed internet network in the 1990s became growth axes for Korea, we will make AI and energy superhighways the new pillars of growth. We will focus on fostering AI, bio, content, defense, and energy (the so-called ABCDE industries) as future growth engines.”

If these government policies are realized, they are expected to bring direct changes to the pharmaceutical and bio industries. Simplification of clinical and approval procedures and a shift to negative regulation could shorten the time from new drug and biosimilar development to commercialization. In particular, rapid entry is expected to be possible in high value-added areas such as advanced regenerative medicine, gene therapies, and cell therapies.

The National Growth Fund and expanded government-led R&D budgets will reduce the financial burden of clinical trials for small and medium-sized bio companies and expand opportunities for joint development and technology exports with global big pharma. This is also positive for the expansion of new drug pipelines among pharmaceutical and bio companies such as Samsung Biologics, Celltrion, Chong Kun Dang, Yuhan, GC Green Cross, and Hanmi Pharmaceutical, which are actively engaged in new drug development.

The government’s planned advanced GPU (graphics processing unit) infrastructure, securing of high-quality data, and policies for nurturing AI talent can enhance competitiveness across the entire AI-based drug development process, including target discovery, clinical trial design, and patient data analysis. This could lead to the spread of strategic collaborations between AI and digital health companies such as Lunit, VUNO, and Mediwhale and pharmaceutical firms. An industry insider commented, “The convergence of AI and bio is key to increasing both speed and efficiency, as well as gaining an edge in global clinical competition. Government policies must go beyond declarations and lead to tangible institutional improvements.”