Korea to support vaccine development

President Moon Jae-in is briefed by a researcher at the Institut Pasteur Korea in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, Thursday. Yonhap

By Do Je-hae

The government will increase its investment in companies developing vaccines and treatments for infectious diseases in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, President Moon Jae-in said Thursday.

Moon made the commitment at a conference with relevant experts at the Institut Pasteur Korea in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province. ”We will invest 210 billion won for vaccine development against COVID-19,” Moon said at the beginning of the meeting, according to press pool reports.

“To start with, we will establish new virus institutes and increase investment into research and development of treatments.”

Experts including doctors and CEOs participated in the meeting, including Institut Pasteur Korea CEO Ryu Wang-shick, Celltrion CEO Seo Jung-jin, Genexine Chairman Sung Young-Chul, SK bioscience CTO Kim Hun, and National Institute of Health chief Kwon Jun-wook, among others.

“The government will step up cooperation with the private sector to ensure the development of COVID-19 treatments and vaccines,” Moon added. “Because the development of infectious disease vaccines and treatments takes a long time and a huge amount of money, efforts by the private sector alone will not be enough to produce results in a short period of time. The government's R&D investment and shorter approval procedures among other support measures will be crucial to speeding up the development of COVID-19 treatments and a vaccine.”

He said that compared to global pharmaceutical companies and advanced countries, Korea lacks resources and experience in drug development. “But the 2015 MERS infection pushed us to seek technological advances in this area. We hope that our treatments and vaccine will set an example for the world and save human lives,” Moon said.

The President also underlined the importance of international cooperation. “We have already agreed to share our quarantine experience and clinical data with the G20 countries, and work together to develop treatments and a vaccine. Through a cooperative system led by the World Health Organization and the United Nations, we will actively participate in the international community's efforts to overcome COVID-19,” Moon said.