Korea Pharmaceutical and Bio-Pharma Manufacturers Association (KPBMA) announced on Tuesday the launch of Korea Innovative Medicine Consortium (KIMC), a joint public and private vehicle to build Korea’s drug response to new infectious diseases.

The consortium’s priority is to speed up time-to-market for vaccines and therapies under a private-public partnership model. To this end, the organization will conduct R&D activities with already existing candidate materials discovered by member companies or other biotech firms, launch joint projects with global pharmaceutical companies and research centers and share existing lab facilities.

KPBMA said its member companies also agreed to chip in 7 billion won ($5.7 million) for the consortium this year while seeking to build up resources with non-financial support over the next four years. This year, 13 member companies in the leadership team will mandatorily inject 200 million won each and 34 board member firms will be recommended to add 100 million won each.

KIMC will also promote a policy environment related to stable drug delivery and coverage of development costs for pharmaceutical companies in the commercialization of new drugs in the field of infectious diseases,

It is necessary to establish a mid- to long-term innovative ecosystem in which the public and private sectors can cooperate to proactively respond to infectious diseases outbreaks that are happening more frequently," said KPBMA head Won Hee-mok, emphasizing that active participation from the industry to lay the foundation for localization of therapies and vaccines.

By Seo Jin-woo and Minu Kim

[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business Newspaper & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]