From June 27 to 30, Kazakh delegation visited South Korea on a working visit to develop projects and study the work of South Korean medical and pharmaceutical clusters and the production of medical equipment.
The working visit was organized by the SK-Pharmacy LLP Single Distributor on behalf of the Vice Premier of the Republic of Kazakhstan R. Sklyar and the Minister of Health of the Republic of Kazakhstan A. Giniyat, with the assistance of the Korean Health Industry Development Institute (KHIDI) and the Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan in Korea.
The Kazakh delegation included representatives of the Public Health Department of the city of Nur-Sultan, the Pharmaceutical Cluster of South Kazakhstan, SK-Pharmacy LLP, Ordamed JSC, Dolce Group of Companies with the Dolce-Pharm brand.
During the visit, the Kazakh delegation visited large Korean medical and pharmaceutical clusters of Songdo and Wonju Tech Valley.
Medical-pharmaceutical cluster is a group of geographically localized interconnected innovative firms – drug developers, manufacturing companies, suppliers of equipment, components, specialized services, infrastructure facilities: research institutes, universities, technology parks, business incubators and other organizations that complement each other and enhancing the competitive advantages of individual companies and the cluster as a whole.
Thus, the Songdo cluster was founded in 2003 and is located on the west coast of Incheon with a total area of 122 km2. Songdo is located in the free economic zone (IFEZ), which has been designated by the Korean government to improve the business and living environment for firms with foreign investment in the Republic of Korea. The cluster serves as a conduit between the Korean and global bio-pharmaceutical industries. Songdo includes 5 largest universities in Korea, leading research centers, as well as a number of major pharmaceutical manufacturers such as Celltrion, Samsung Bioepis, Samsung Biologics, Janssenvaccine, Binex DMBio, Sitiva, Merck.
The Songdo Biocluster has an annual biomedical production of 560,000 liters, the largest in the world, followed by San Francisco and Singapore. The cluster also owns the majority of product licenses in South Korea, including the license for the world's first licensed antibody biosimilar. Today, as it enters its second phase of development, IFEZ plans to expand the Songdo Bio Cluster and support the economic and scientific growth of the Incheon Free Economic Zone.
Established in 1998, Wonju Medical Industry Techno Valley is an innovative city developing in the direction of the medical device industry and positions itself as the Single Platform for sustainable innovative growth with pharmaceutical companies. The techno valley includes more than 200 industrial sites for the production of medical equipment. The cluster is a convenient infrastructure for all cluster members and provides centralized support in terms of supporting medical device startups (TIC), supporting scientific research (RRC), and providing training on medical equipment. Since 2013, the cluster infrastructure has included a Next Generation Health Industry Support Center to support the commercialization of medical services based on artificial intelligence and the DataBase. Since 2019, the Certified Electromagnetic Wave Testing Laboratory has been operating, which is an infrastructure for testing and certifying international medical equipment, used to evaluate tests for preliminary testing of electromagnetic waves with the possibility of issuing a test report for authorization / permission.
The Wonju cluster structure has a one-stop enterprise support service that helps medical device companies succeed - MEDISTRY. MEDISTRY focuses on supporting access to market information and medical device standards; design, planning and prototyping; checking the safety, reliability and durability of new products; regulatory support, including on obtaining international certification; marketing and export support of production sites.
Today, the Advanced Medical Convergence Support Center Construction Project is the strategic development direction of Wonju Tech Valley, which can lead the future healthcare industry such as medical devices, biotechnology and artificial intelligence.
Thus, South Korea, which has taken the path of innovative development, including through the establishment of medical clusters as an important national research and development infrastructure, deserves special attention. The strong growth of the pharmaceutical market in the Republic of Korea, which in recent years has surpassed the mark of more than 20 billion US dollars due to the release of new global drugs and the export of technologies, is impressive.
Kazakhstan is interested in attracting investments and advanced technologies necessary for the successful implementation of the modernization of the economy. Key importance is attached to the development of the expensive innovative products production, the promotion of the industry in the direction of technology transfer, its digitalization, as well as the development of a cluster initiative.
As international practice shows, a great incentive for the development of medical and pharmaceutical clusters will be the involvement of domestic research institutes, scientific laboratories of large medical universities like R&D centers, as well as their deployment in free economic and industrial zones.
Due to the concentration of the territory of production sites and leading medical universities, the most attractive regions for the creation of medical-pharmaceutical clusters in the republic are 3 cluster zones in the cities of Aktobe, Nur-Sultan and Shymkent. The Minister of Health of the Republic of Kazakhstan presented this initiative to establish medical and pharmaceutical clusters in the Republic of Kazakhstan to the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
Currently, team of scientists and KHIDI managers are working on creating a cluster infrastructure model for Kazakhstan and plan to present it to the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Kazakhstan in September of this year.
This important strategic direction solves several socially significant tasks at once. This is a matter of new jobs, raising the level of the scientific base, the transition to GMP standards, the creation of innovative drugs, the popularization of the domestic pharmaceutical industry and, of course, the economic development of the region in which the cluster is being built. Combining the efforts of Kazakh companies around the creation of clusters in different regions of the country and investing in their development both from the state and private capital will ensure the growth of production of import-substituting products and attract foreign companies to the construction of pharmaceutical plants in Kazakhstan.
It should be recalled that in August 2021, the State visit of the President of Kazakhstan to Korea took place, which laid the foundation for further expansion of the strategic partnership between the two countries. The President of Kazakhstan emphasized the importance of intensifying cooperation with global pharmaceutical corporations. It is important to attract investors, ensure the transfer of technologies and the latest technologies, and expand the scope and range of off-take contracts with domestic manufacturers. The share of medicines and medical products of domestic production must be increased to 50% as early as 2025. In addition, in order to implement the instructions of the Head of State, it is planned to centralize the medical equipment procurement on the basis of SK-Pharmacy.
The Single Distributor takes an active position in the development of cooperation in the field of medical and pharmaceuticals between Kazakhstan and South Korea. Thus, as part of the activities carried out to support the development of domestic production of pharmaceutical and medical products, the Single Distributor takes the initiative to provide a platform for major brands to enter the country from packaging to the full production cycle.
Also, during the visit, a meeting was held with the head office of KHIDI, and also visited the National University of Seoul Bundang Hospital. KHIDI is a "window to Korea" and a partner in attracting investors, providing technology transfer and the latest technologies to Kazakhstan. The Single Distributor has been working closely with KHIDI since September 2021 and has already held a number of negotiations with Korean companies and continues to work in this direction to this day. The working visit is a practical continuation of all previous agreements.
The parties noted that a direct dialogue would be useful for both parties, serve to expand the horizons of cooperation and give impetus to the development of investment partnerships in the field of medicine and pharmaceuticals. The development of cooperation in the framework of the exchange of experience in the creation of medical and pharmaceutical clusters opens up broad prospects for both the healthcare system and business.
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The pharmaceutical market in South Korea is one of the most dynamically developing markets in recent years. South Korea has taken the path of innovative development in the field of promising areas of science, localization of the production of biosimilars, attraction of public and private capital, and mobilized the best international specialists to the country. The main driving force behind the industry is a highly educated and experienced research and development workforce, a strong passion for new drug development, a strategic and dynamic nationwide network of collaborations between industry, academia and government research organizations. and strong will and vision for the global market.
Korea Health Industry Development Institute (KHIDI) is a government agency under the Ministry of Health and Welfare of the Republic of Korea. KHIDI was founded in 1999 to provide professional and systematic support to the development of the Korean medical industry in order to increase its competitiveness in the global market. KHIDI is a professional institute dedicated to the global advancement of the Korean healthcare industry. The goal of KHIDI is to promote institutions and companies providing high quality and modern medical services, contributing to their transformation into a driving force for the growth of the Korean economy. We are committed to creating so-called "Korean wave" on the global stage by combining the strengths of Korean medical services, pharmaceutical products, medical equipment and beauty products.
South Korea's Songdo Biocluster (Songdo International City) is a top-tier global biocluster that is home to 60 global pharmaceutical companies and research and development centers.
South Korean Medical Cluster Wonju (Wonju Medical Industry Techno Valley - WMIT). It is an association of South Korean enterprises and research centers for the development and production of medical equipment. It provides sponsorship to small businesses, including through the provision of workspaces and equipment for testing new devices; organizes information and consulting interaction and searches for partners for the implementation of joint bilateral innovative projects in the field of medical equipment;
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