“By establishing pharmaceutical sovereignty, we will devote our capabilities to protecting the people from Corona 19 and opening an era of success for K-Pharm on the global stage.”
Won Hee-mok, chairman of the Korea Pharmaceutical Bio Association, emphasized’establishment of pharmaceutical sovereignty’ at an online New Year press conference on the 27th, saying, “The top priority for overcoming the Corona 19 pandemic crisis is the development of treatments and vaccines.” To this end, it requested the government to expand support such as large-scale investment and loss guarantee system.
The association cited the development and production of COVID-19 vaccines and treatments as their top priority this year. Currently, the domestic pharmaceutical and bio industry is conducting clinical trials on 15 cases of COVID-19 treatment and 7 cases of vaccines.
Chairman Won said, “Since our country has a self-sufficiency rate of more than 70% of medicines, there has not been a need to buy essential medicines overseas in a pandemic situation.
He emphasized that even if the time is late, the development of the COVID-19 treatment and vaccine must go to the end. Chairman Won said, “The US government is also investing a total of 12 trillion won in the development of COVID-19 vaccines and treatments in private companies,” he said. “Our government also needs consistent and intensive support.”
He added, “It is important to create an environment that allows private companies to bear fruit without giving up halfway because of enormous development costs, and please come up with a support plan such as a loss guarantee system that allows drugs under development to see the light even after the pandemic is over.”
Chairman Won also emphasized the importance of increasing the self-sufficiency rate of domestic drug substances in relation to the realization of pharmaceutical sovereignty.
He said, “The self-sufficiency rate for finished drugs is 74%, while the self-sufficiency rate for drug substances is 16%, which is the lowest ever.” We will focus on nurturing medicines.”
The association is expected to create at least three new drugs developed in Korea this year, and decided to concentrate on the creation of new blockbuster drugs. The plan is to create a global success model based on the selection and concentration of R&D, expansion of scale through mergers and acquisitions, and creation of a global blockbuster.
They also hoped to install a control tower that oversees the development of the government’s health industry, strengthen the industrial promotion organization within the Ministry of Health and Welfare, which is a department in charge of working-level, and rationalize regulations.
Chairman Won said, “It is urgent to establish a strategy for fostering a mid- to long-term health industry that supports global environmental change and support, and to install a control tower under the direct control of the president through a full-cycle policy from basic research to completion of clinical trials.”
He stressed, “It must be accompanied by strengthening and expanding the role of the industrial policy organization within the Ministry of Health and Welfare, which is the department in charge of the working-level to support this.”
Reporter Jeong Hyun-jeong [email protected]