Korean government to establish biotech control tower

The South Korean government said Monday that it would establish a special overarching committee to coordinate and streamline all policymaking related to the nation’s biotechnology business, viewed as a promising sector to lead the country’s future growth.

The decision was made last week at a meeting of the 11th National Science & Technology Council, a prime minister-led institution that evaluates the state’s science and technology policies.

The new committee will act as a “control tower” that bridges the country’s biotech sector-related policies, currently scattered across multiple ministries, for improved execution, according to the council.
 

It will also fund promising biotechnology research and development projects and offer support so that such projects are strategically planned, able to secure investments and reach commercialization.

The 20-person special biotech committee, to be formed within this month, will be led by Hong Nam-ki, first vice minister of science, as well as government officials from related ministries and local experts from the biotech sector.

“The committee will act as a problem-solving body focused on mediating contentious issues between different ministries and government agendas in the biotechnology field,” Hong said.

“By actively communicating with researchers and businesses in the biotech sector, we plan to find out continually-cited difficulties or problems and solve them.”

The recent development comes as the government seeks to nurture the country’s biotechnology health care sector, eyeing Korea’s strengths in the advanced life sciences research front and the segment’s vast growth potential in an era of aging societies.

Biotechnology refers to technology that harnesses the science of genetics and other microbiological functions, promising huge advances in medical treatments and services.

“As evidenced by the recent large-scale (biologics) technology export by leading Korean drugmaker (Hanmi Pharmaceutical), the biotech industry is becoming a promising growth front for Korea,” the Prime Minister’s Office and Ministry of Science said in a joint statement announcing the committee’s formation.

While continuing to expand its investment into biotech R&D, the government “saw the need to establish a comprehensive ‘control tower’ to bring together dispersed policies governing the sector” and facilitate communication, the statement said.

Meanwhile, the government’s recent move addresses continued calls for the establishment of a single executive body to strategically manage the country’s biotech business and become an early leader in the sector globally.

“As speed is the key to taking the lead in biotechnology, a clear leader needs to step up, take responsibility and push through with concrete plans,” Seo Jeong-sun, president of the Korea Biotechnology Industry Organization told The Korea Herald in an interview last year.

By Sohn Ji-young (jys@heraldcorp.com)