The Korea Pharmaceutical and Bio-Pharma Manufacturers Association (KPBMA) laid out its plan to conduct open innovation to bolster the local biopharmaceutical industry for this year, in a news conference on Wednesday.

KPBMA Chairman Won Hee-mok lays out the association's goals this year to bolster the local biopharmaceutical industry, at his office in Seocho-gu, southern Seoul, on Wednesday.

"This year, the topic of the biopharmaceutical industry is open innovation," KPBMA Chairman Won Hee-mok said. "The biopharmaceutical industry is recognized as a new growth engine and a national industry that will be responsible for the future of Korea."

For the biopharmaceutical industry to go global, the government also needs to go all out to induce its innovation, he added.

Won reiterated that the association should open the door to open innovation, and the government should become a strong supporter of this industry to realize its goal.

Specifically, the KPMBA head that the association would secure a base for global advancement this year, leading the creation of an innovative ecosystem, enhancing drug quality, securing global competitiveness, and ensuring the full-fledged operation of new drug development support centers.

The KPBMA also plans to establish educational institutions to foster bio-specialized workers and promote ethical management industry culture as well as collaborate with industry-academia to organize recruitment fairs.

"To practice open innovation in the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, we will boldly shift from wrong practices and bring about concrete results," Won said.

Major policy tasks stressed by Won also included the concrete implementation of open innovation between global research institutes and companies and local biopharmaceutical companies.

"KPBMA plans to divide global target markets -- U.S., Europe, and Eurasian regions -- and secure a network with government agencies, research institutes, hospitals, and leading biopharmaceutical companies," Won said. "We will faithfully carry out its roles to import and export and licensing work of Korean companies."

"The success of open innovation depends on public-private collaboration," Won said. "It demands the government takes an active role in helping industry innovation succeed."

Public and private partnerships will break through the barriers to change harmful practices and create open innovation outcomes by 2020, he added.

To achieve such goals, Won noted that the government should increase the amount of R&D support from the current 9.1 percent of the annual 2.7 trillion won public and private investment to match a level similar to Japan, which is about 20 percent.

He also said that the government should establish a drug cost-effectiveness policy instead of price control policies.

"Now is the time to build an open innovation ecosystem that is led by the private sector and supported by government departments, local governments, and public institutions," Won said.

corea022@docdocdoc.co.kr

<© Korea Biomedical Review, All rights reserved.>