And The Winner Is? Two Cities For The Price Of One Win Bid For Multi-billion Dollar Korean Biopolis
This article was originally published in PharmAsia News
Executive Summary
SEOUL - South Korea's Ministry for Health, Welfare and Family Affairs named two cities - Osong and Daegu - as the winners of multi-billion-dollar, high-tech medical center sites planned in the country to draw multinational companies to the country
|
SEOUL - South Korea's Ministry for Health, Welfare and Family Affairs named two cities - Osong and Daegu - as the winners of multi-billion-dollar, high-tech medical center sites planned in the country to draw multinational companies to the country. The selection of the two cities, announced Aug. 10, instead of one city as originally planned, is seen as part of the government's efforts to avoid any political repercussions that could be sparked in the future from unsuccessful candidate cities including the capital city Seoul, Suwon, Daejeon and the second-largest port city of Busan. The government plans to invest KRW 5.6 trillion ($4.7 billion) over the next 30 years to build the centers in the two cities, which will be armed with R&D facilities and medical equipment for clinical trials and medical services. (Also see "Korea To Name Multi-billion Dollar Medical City In Effort To Draw More MNCs" - Scrip, 7 Aug, 2009.) The Korean government envisions the cities as world-class bioclusters similar to Boston and Singapore. Industry watchers say the investment will help to build up local pharma companies by forming partnerships with MNCs. Osong is located 100 miles south of Seoul. Daegu City, the power base of the current government of Lee Myung-Bak, is South Korea's third-largest city. It located 180 miles south of Seoul. Although the government will be investing $4.7 billion in the project, private companies and hospitals will be responsible for managing the clinical trial and R&D centers. Noting that Osong complex is comprised of industry, academia and government, the health minister Jeon Jae-Hee said six relevant state-run organizations, including Korea FDA and the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will move into the complex by October 2010. Roughly 110 pharmaceutical and medical device firms and research institutes will move into the complex, Jeon said (Also see "South Korea Will Not Pursue Compulsory Licensing Against MNCs, But For How Long?" - Scrip, 24 Feb, 2009.). - Peter Chang ([email protected]) |