- MOUs signed for bio small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) support... Actively supporting demand-supply companies

- Participating in the advancement of the ecosystem of the biopharmaceutical industry from talent cultivation to production innovation

PCMO (Director Min Cho, hereinafter referred to as the Center) announced that it has signed memorandums of understanding (MOUs) with 10 companies and organizations, including Samsung Biologics, Celltrion, the Bio Industry Association, and the Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology, to achieve the 'Bio-Manufacturing Innovation Strategy' announced by the Ministry of Industry, Trade, and Resources (Ministry of Industry) on April 1st.

The content of the agreement focuses on forming a consensus body to activate the bio SME (materials, parts, equipment) industry. To achieve this, they plan to collaborate on diversified cooperation such as research and development (R&D), commercialization, market entry, talent cultivation, etc., as well as to establish a foundation for securing a track record of bio SMEs and entering the global market, and to support customized production performance evaluation according to demand.

This agreement includes a total of 10 companies and institutions, including KoreaBIO, KEIT(Korea Planning & Evaluation Institute of Industrial Technology), Celltrion, Samsung Biologics, Samsung Bioepis, KRIBB(Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology), KBIOHealth(Osong Medical Innovation Foundation), Yonsei University K-NIBRT, Andong K-Bio CMO center, and PCMO. Through this consensus body, they plan to contribute to the activation of the bio SME (materials, parts, equipment) industry, which is essential for the formation of a biopharmaceutical manufacturing hub.

In the announcement, the Ministry of Industry, Trade, and Resources stated that it will attract 17.7 trillion won of private investment in the domestic biopharmaceutical and bio SME industries by 2030 to establish the world's leading biopharmaceutical manufacturing hub. For this purpose, they emphasized support for companies such as manufacturing and process development utilizing PCMO and K-Bio CMO center located in Hwasun and Andong.

Furthermore, they highlighted practical training utilizing the center facilities as a means to foster bio talent necessary for establishing a global production hub. They plan to establish process training facilities through the educational facilities under construction in Hwasun and Andong and the Yonsei University K-NIBRT to provide field-specific professional training by providing industrial field experiences.

In addition, the Ministry of Industry, Trade, and Resources decided to proceed with the pre-feasibility study for the establishment of the Korean version of the Bio Manufacturing Innovation Platform (BioMADE) to advance advanced bio-production processes. They plan to collaborate with international institutions through linkage with public bio foundries to advance and commercialize production processes.

Meanwhile, PCMO has been conducting the 'mRNA Vaccine Verification Support Base Construction Project' with the Ministry of Industry, Trade, and Resources and Jeollanam-do Province since 2022. Along with the completion of the mRNA manufacturing facility in 2025, they plan to provide full-fledged mRNA production services and have already been involved in mRNA-related tasks such as producing clinical samples for COVID-19. They intend to contribute to the development of the bio industry by combining the Ministry of Industry's 'Bio-Manufacturing Innovation Strategy' with existing projects.