Seoul's Science Ministry to invest ￦559.4B into biotech R&D

The Science Ministry is pouring 559.4 billion won ($438.1 million) into biotechnology research and development (R&D) this year.

A researcher at SK bioscience's research center in Seongnam, Gyeonggi [NEWS1]

The Science Ministry is pouring 559.4 billion won ($438.1 million) into biotechnology research and development (R&D) this year.

This is a roughly 0.8 percent increase from last year’s 554.7 billion won.

On Tuesday, the Ministry of Science and ICT announced its annual plan to encourage technological development in the local biopharmaceutical and healthcare sectors.

The goal is to secure advanced biotechnologies involving brain science, microbiomes, the human genome and big data.

The government will provide 168.9 billion won for developing new drugs and healthcare devices. Part of the subsidy will be spent on regenerative medicine projects.

A 251-billion-won investment will be put toward establishing a data-based research environment and developing next-generation biotechnologies.

Another 139.4 billion won will be put into research on infectious diseases, dementia and brain diseases.

“The integration of biology and digital technology is essential in overcoming limitations of the traditional biotechnology R&D process, which has high uncertainty and requires hefty costs and a long research period,” said Koo Hyuk-chae, director general of the R&D policy bureau of the Science Ministry.

Koo cited the case of Moderna, “which developed the Covid-19 vaccine candidate in only three to four months using cutting-edge biotechnologies involving big data and synthetic biology.”

BY SHIN HA-NEE [shin.hanee@joongang.co.kr]