The Korean government grooming biotech and healthcare sectors as key growth drivers for economy in the post-Covid world will expedite support and deregulations to encourage the development of blockbuster drugs and vaccines.

The bio-health sector is directly linked to the growth of the Korean economy as it protects public health and creates new high-paying jobs, President Yoon Suk-yeol said during his visit to Healthcare Innovation Park at Seoul National University Bundang Hospital on Wednesday, where he vowed for more financial support to help build a K-bio vaccine hub and empower companies to focus on developing blockbuster medicines and vaccines.

Under the government’s plan, a public-private fund dedicated to therapy/vaccine research and development will be raised 500 billion won ($383.4 million) this year to be expanded to up to 1 trillion won later. The government also plans to provide 2.2 trillion won by 2030 to support R&D programs for pipelines in phase 2 clinical trials.

The regulatory review period for innovative medical devices will be shortened to 80 days from the current 390 days, with other deregulation efforts under the government’s regulatory sandbox program.

Regarding the deregulation policy, Yoon vowed to implement a plan to drastically shorten the review and licensing period for artificial intelligence-backed innovative medical devices so that they can be used quickly in the field.

The policy reflects the industry’s opinion that the review period for marketing approval of medical devices should be shortened once they are designated as innovative products, so that they can be applied to clinical sites quickly even without health insurance benefits.

By Yoo Joo-yeon, Park In-hye and Minu Kim

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