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| Neumed CEO Kang Hee-won, center, poses with Kyung Hee University President Hahn Kyun-tae, left, and Professor Kim Ho-cheol of Kyung Hee University's College of Korean Medicine during a donation ceremony at the school, Wednesday. Courtesy of Neumed |
By Nam Hyun-woo
Neumed, a domestic biotech company developing drugs derived from natural materials, will donate 1 billion won ($894 million) to Kyung Hee University's College of Korean Medicine, in a bid to nurture studies on the medical use of herbs and other natural materials.
The company said Thursday that its CEO Kang Hee-won and Professor Kim Ho-cheol of the university donated 1 billion by 2027 to the college during a donation ceremony on Wednesday, in order to improve infrastructure for studies on the medical use of natural materials. Kim is the founder of Neumed.
This year, Neumed and Kim each donated 200 million won and 50 million won to the college. From next year, they will donate 100 million won and 25 million won to the college every year until 2027.
The college will use Kim's donation towards scholarships for Korean medicine students and assisting other researchers, while the fund from Neumed will be used for improving research infrastructure at the college. The college will set up medical herb banks and a museum in the school.
"We hope the donation can be a help support the progress in basic Korean medicine studies," Kim said. "Also, we will continue making efforts to nurture the museum and herb banks in order for the school to be a medical herb research hub."
Kang added that the company decided to make a long-term donation to the college, as part of its goal to promote the medical advantages of natural materials, and it will enhance cooperation with Kyung Hee University in the field of natural materials research.
Neumed is a biotech company involved in developing drugs and health functional food ingredients using herbs and other natural materials. The company has recently finished phase 2a clinical trials on its medical herb-based stroke treatment candidate. It has also obtained new investigational drug approval from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety on its idiopathic short stature treatment candidate.
So far, Neumed has signed 22 license-out deals with Kyung Hee University and has been carrying out a series of joint research projects.
