15th Meeting to Promote BIG3
Government to Focus on Bio Sector
Deputy Prime Minister Hong Nam-ki presided over the 15th Meeting to Promote BIG3[1], a subsidiary committee of the Industrial Innovation Meeting, held on October 8. The 15th meeting focused on the bio sector and plans to develop bio industries were main topics of discussion.
The following is a summary of Deputy Prime Minister Hong’s keynote address.
Biotechnology as an industrial pivot
Biotechnology being a pivot to a number of industries, such as red biotechnologies for pharmaceuticals and green biotechnologies for climate change solutions, the government will work to develop the bio sector into the country’s next generation growth engine, in addition to semiconductors. Fueled by the pandemic, the bio sector has gained momentum to climb to a next notch, and the government will help the bio industry play a central role as the country’s major growth engine.
Promote synthetic biology
Synthetic biology is a field of innovation of which the effect will spread across the bio sector. We will promote synthetic biology with our focus on improving time and cost efficiency in developing new medicines and materials, and will do the following to support the plan.
- Help develop essential technologies
- Set up a public bio-foundry to make it faster and automated to develop a new technology across DBTL (design-build-test-learn)
- Promote education, improve regulations and support new products from development to commercialization
Help with pre-clinical testing for new vaccines
- Expand the support for pre-clinical testing of Covid-19 vaccines to other vaccines, employing venture specific programs
- Continue to work on vaccine R&D support
Streamline customs clearance
- Streamline customs clearance as bio-medicines and materials are due to expire sooner than other goods
- Make the bonded factory available for bio-material imports, and run consulting services to help use the factory with those imports
