S. Korea to Produce 100 New Drug Candidates by 2026

The South Korean government held a meeting on September 27 and finalized its biotechnology development plan for the period of 2017 to 2026.

According to the plan, the government is going to increase the number of new drug candidates by 100 to 185 in 2026 and help the companies come up with at least five new blockbuster drugs. To this end, the government invests 500 billion won (US$450 million) until 2026 in an open innovation project covering the industry, research institutes, hospitals and the academic community.

In addition, the government is going to raise a mega fund for new drug development in which financial institutions, pharmaceutical companies and foreign investors participate and provide financial and R&D assistance with regard to business startup and technology transfer covering stages preceding and following preclinical development. The size of the fund is likely to be at least one trillion won (US$900 million).

The government is also aiming to create approximately 120,000 new jobs in the biotech sector so that the number of those working in the sector can reach 145,000 in 2025.

At the same time, it is going to boost biotechnology exports from US$522 million to US$2.732 billion between 2015 and 2025 and increase the number of cases of biotech R&D against social problems from 7,000 to 10,000 during the same period.