Regenerative Medicine
On May 9, the Ministry of Health & Welfare launched an industrial council for advanced regenerative medicine. Cha Hospital Group chairman Cha Kwang-ryeol took the position of the first chairman of the council consisting of the 31 entities including cell therapy product suppliers, pharmaceutical companies, contract research organizations and venture investment firms.
The council is going to listen to opinions on bills relating to regenerative medicine while holding business forums, research conferences and workshops in the second half of this year.
In addition, it is planning on collaborations with similar bodies abroad such as the Alliance for Regenerative Medicine of the United States and the Forum for Innovative Regenerative Medicine of Japan.
These days, regenerative medicine is gaining much attention with regard to the treatment of incurable diseases as an alternative to surgical and drug treatments. The global regenerative medicine market covering tissue engineering, gene therapy and stem cell currently has a size of US$5.8 billion and it is expected to grow to US$12 billion in 2020 and US$30.8 billion in 2026. By region, the current market size is US$3.2 billion for the United States, US$1.2 billion for Europe and US$600 million for Asia. The Asian market’s annual average growth rate, however, is estimated at 22.4% until 2026, higher than those of the U.S. (12.1%) and Europe (18.1%).