The MSI invests ₩420 billion to bio-based technologies

New drugs, stem cells, and bio-big data announcement of new business announcement

‘2020 original technology development project implementation plan' was confirmed on the 7th

The government will invest ₩420 billion to foster bio as a next-generation growth industry and invests ₩61.4 billion in finding and verifying new drugs.

 

The budget increased by 10.1% compared to the previous year for the development of bio-based technologies.

 

New drugs, medical devices, brain research, and bio-big data are the areas of intensive investment.

 

On the 7th, the Ministry of Science and ICT said, "It will finalize the implementation plan of the original technology development project in the bio sector in 2020".

 

The bio-innovation strategy established by the governmental department last year influenced the movement of the Ministry of Science and ICT.

 

In particular, this year, we will strengthen our support to secure global technological competitiveness in bio-related core fields such as new drugs, medical devices, and brain research, while actively investing in future bio-convergence technologies such as biobig data, artificial intelligence drug development, and 3D biotissue chips.

 

In accordance with the confirmed implementation plan, on the 8th, the government will announce new tasks in key areas such as new drugs and stem cells and start supporting them in earnest.

 

The government selected the biohealth sector as one of the three new industries last year.

 

Ministry of Science and ICT is fostering biotechnology by establishing an innovative strategy for the biohealth industry, and it is pointed out that SK Biopharm's epilepsy treatments are approved for marketing by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

 

First, the government plans to expand R&D investments to secure global technological competitiveness in biomedical core fields such as new drugs, medical devices, and precision medicine.

 

In order to continue the performance of the new drug field, the government will invest ₩61.4 billion to secure new drug technologies, including new businesses to discover and verify new drug targets.

 

In addition, AI and big data, which are the core engines of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, are expected to be used in the bio sector to transform the medical paradigm, thus supporting the convergence technology.

 

Starting this year, the government plans to build a new 20,000 people scaled bio-data collection and utilization system for research with the relevant ministries (the Ministry of Science and ICT, the Ministry of Health and Welfare, Ministry of Trade and Industry).

 

In addition, the government will continue to invest in the development of new drug technologies using artificial intelligence to drastically reduce the cost and time required for new drug development.

 

New investments will also be made this year in building a next-generation drug evaluation platform.

 

It also invests in the development of treatment technology to overcome diseases directly related to national health, such as dementia caused by aging and infectious diseases that are regularly problematic.

 

From this year, the Ministry of Health and Welfare & the Ministry of Science and ICT will jointly support the cause of dementia, develop the pathogenesis, predict and diagnose early diagnosis, prevent and treat the development of treatment technology, and will also invest in the development and diagnosis of key brain diseases such as brain development disorders, emotional disorders such as depression, and damage to the nervous system.

 

In order to strengthen its ability to respond to infectious diseases, it will invest ₩24.4 billion in developing technologies for preventing and treating infectious diseases, including developing new and emerging virus response technologies.

 

Seo-gon Ko, a director of basic source research policy, said “Biofield is a technology-based industry, and securing core technology leads to the preoccupation of the market, there are also characteristics that new market is developed based on convergence technology, and the government will actively support the development of future medical technologies by combining R&D , artificial intelligence, and big data with bio to preoccupy the global core market”.