Korea to invest $200 mn in new drugs, vaccines by 2028

South Korea’s health ministry will allocate 261.6 billion won ($200.2 million) for two funds over the next four years to boost private sector investment in biopharmaceutical ventures.

Ministry of Health and Welfare, Seoul-based venture capital firms Yuanta Investment Co. and Premier Partners LLC will form two bio and vaccine funds by the end of this year.

One fund will be closed at 150 billion won while the other will be formed at 111.6 billion won, the ministry's Director General Jeong Eun-young said on Friday at the K-Bio Investment Conference held in Seoul on Friday.

Some 40% of the four-year allocation will be deployed next year to reinvigorate Korea’s biopharmaceutical industry.

Backed by the health ministry and state-run banks, the funds will be used to develop new drugs in Phase II or III clinical trials, drug discovery platforms and vaccine technologies.

The health ministry will create additional bio and vaccine funds to drive private sector investment, Jeong said.

Write to Jung-hwan Hwang at jung@hankyung.com

Jihyun Kim edited this article.