- Agreement Signed to Facilitate Organic Collaboration in Microbiome Research and Development 

▲PCMO Located in Hwasun, Jeollanam-do

PCMO (Director Min Jo) and Human Microbiome Medical Research Center at Soonchunhyang University (HM·MRC, Director Ho-Yeon Song) announced that they have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on April 4th to facilitate organic collaboration in research and development in the field of microbiome.

The agreement emphasizes sharing information in the biopharmaceutical industry, mutual cooperation in research and development in the microbiome field of interest to the pharmaceutical and biotech industries, and plans to continue cooperation in industry trends and information sharing, research collaboration and education, and utilization of facilities and equipment.

Microbiome, also known as the 'second genome,' is expanding its scope beyond existing health functional foods and cosmetics to therapeutics and vaccines. According to Mirae Asset Securities, the global microbiome market is projected to grow at an average annual rate of 13.1% from 2022 to 2026, reaching $100.9 billion (approximately 13 trillion won) in 2026. Therefore, the MOU between the two institutions is considered significant.

Meanwhile, Human Microbiome Medical Research Center at Soonchunhyang University is conducting research on the development of microbiome therapeutics for high-risk infectious and metabolic diseases as part of the Ministry of Science and ICT and Korea Research Foundation's Leading Research Center project. With a total project budget of 17 billion won over seven years from June 2023, the center is dedicated to research on 'human microbiome,' which is evaluated as a technology that will lead the future advanced bio-industry, based on the infrastructure and pre-existing research technology of the Probiotics Microbiome Commercialization Research Center (PMC).

PCMO, established in 2017 through the 'Vaccine Globalization Base Construction Project' by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and Jeollanam-do Province, continues to actively operate by producing domestic and foreign non-clinical and clinical samples for vaccines and therapeutics. It also engages in government projects to support companies developing mRNA vaccines, a cutting-edge technology highlighted during the COVID-19 pandemic, from development to production.

Through this agreement, it is expected that the enhanced research and development cooperation in microbiome technology between the two institutions will contribute to the advancement of capabilities in the microbiome industry in the future.