**Launch of Global Top Gene and Cell Therapy Specialized Research Group**
The Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology (KRIBB), along with other institutes such as the Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology and the Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science, will invest 85 billion KRW over five years.
Domestic research institutions have joined forces to secure core technologies for next-generation gene and cell therapies that fundamentally treat diseases with a single treatment.
On the 22nd, KRIBB announced that it held an unveiling ceremony and kickoff meeting for the “Global Top Gene and Cell Therapy Specialized Research Group” at its headquarters in Daejeon and will embark on full-scale research.
The Gene and Cell Therapy Specialized Research Group is one of five global top strategic research groups selected in June. It was chosen by the Ministry of Science and ICT and the National Research Council of Science & Technology to eliminate barriers and encourage open cooperation for securing national strategic technologies. The group’s goal is to support the development of advanced pharmaceuticals by securing core foundational technologies in the gene and cell therapy fields and verifying the efficacy and safety of clinical candidate substances.
The specialized research group plans to receive a total of 85 billion KRW over the next five years to develop personalized treatments for rare and intractable diseases, contributing to global pharmaceutical competitiveness by overcoming the limitations of existing new drugs. The group will be coordinated by Jeong Kyung-sook, director of KRIBB, and will involve participation from institutes like the Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology, the Korea Institute of Toxicology, the Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science, Korea Basic Science Institute, and ETRI, as well as universities, hospitals, and companies.
Director Kim Jang-seong of KRIBB stated, “We will spare no support to create large-scale national achievements through the commercialization of gene therapies for rare and intractable diseases and to secure critical technologies at an early stage.”
Jeong Kyung-sook, the head of the Global TOP Gene and Cell Therapy Specialized Research Group, expressed her aspiration by saying, “We aim to develop technologies that solve the challenges of rare and intractable diseases, thereby contributing to public happiness and the bioeconomy by establishing a specialized research group in gene and cell therapy.”