The Ministry of Planning and Finance, the Ministry of Science and Technology Information and communication, the Ministry of Trade and Resources, the Ministry of Health and well-being, the Ministry of small and medium-sized enterprises and the Ministry of Food, medicine and drug safety, among others, recently jointly held the bio-innovation forum, the K-BIO pharmaceutical industry rapid development strategy, jointly developed by several departments, was announced.
Speaking at the Forum, President Lee Jae-myung said the biopharmaceutical industry would become the pillar of the future development of Korean industry and the government should provide support and help for practitioners in related industries to enhance their ability of independent innovation. Lee Jae-myung stressed that the government would accelerate approvals for research and development projects while ensuring objectivity and transparency. In the process, the government is open to relaxing the regulation of the biopharmaceutical industry.
The new strategy aims to double the value of biopharmaceutical exports by 2030, develop three blockbuster new drugs and rank third in the world in the number of clinical trials. To achieve this, the government will revise laws and regulations to be market-oriented and to facilitate the marketing of drugs based on new technologies. In addition, the requirements for Phase III clinical trials of biosimilars will be relaxed. In the future, artificial intelligence will be used in the review of approvals, while significantly expanding the number of reviewers and shortening the review cycle by about four months. By the end of the 2027, simultaneous approvals, reimbursement assessments and drug price negotiations would be institutionalized.
In terms of technological innovation, the Korean government will support enterprises to accelerate the growth of innovation through the combination of technology, talent and capital. Key areas include: supporting the development of new drugs based on artificial intelligence, building automated laboratories based on artificial intelligence and robotics, and promoting the development of gene and cell therapy technologies, we will promote major changes in artificial intelligence and biopharmaceutical technology.