Korea to breed 3,000 primates for medical research

A bird's eye view of the National Primate Resource Center in Jeongeup, North Jeolla Province / Courtesy of the Korea Research Institute of Bioscience & Biotechnology

National Primate Resource Center to open Tuesday

By Baek Byung-yeul

Rhesus monkeys / Courtesy of the Korea Research Institute of Bioscience & Biotechnology

The Korea Research Institute of Bioscience & Biotechnology (KRIBB) will officially open its National Primate Resource Center, Tuesday, which can breed up to 3,000 primates and use them as test subjects for new medicines.

The center is in Jeongeup, North Jeolla Province, 260 kilometers south of Seoul.

The KRIBB has been operating the National Primate Research Center in Ochang, North Chungcheong Province since 2005 where it develops new drugs for rare diseases as well as bio organs and regenerative medicine.

However, the research center hasn't effectively solved the imbalance between supply and demand of primate resources as primates have been an invaluable resource for biomedical research.

The KRIBB said the newly opened resource center will help boost supply of primate resources. “With the opening of the resource center, the resource center can secure and breed a massive amount of specific pathogen-free (SPF) primates,” a KRIBB official said.

“Though we have been operating a research center in Ochang, we have been experiencing hardships in terms of securing primates. The resource center will resolve the issue of primate resources supply and establish a stable support infrastructure,” the official said.

The KRIBB invested 18.5 billion won ($16.5 million) to construct the resource center. The center was completed after four years of construction. It was established on a site of 73,424 square meters.

The KRIBB said the resource center currently has 1,180 primates including 590 macaque monkeys, 430 crab-eating macaque monkeys and 160 rhesus monkeys. The resource center is scheduled to secure 500 additional monkeys by the end of this year. The center has a maximum breeding capacity of 3,000.

Another goal of the resource center is to supply locally bred primates to local academic and research institutions. The resource center plans to supply 50 primates that are born and raised in the center to local institutions in 2022 and more than half of primates used in local labs will be supplied by the resource center by 2025.

“Currently, it takes at least two months to import primates because of quarantine procedures. By using primates born and raised in the center, institutions can save time and conduct more efficient R&D activities,” the KRIBB said.