[현장에서] Securing pharmaceutical sovereignty with a long way to go, the road to endemic

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As the Corona 19 crisis enters its third year, it is said that the endemic era has come, but Korea’s pharmaceutical sovereignty still has a long way to go. While approvals for improved vaccines are being made one following another following the existing vaccines released by global Big Pharma such as Pfizer and Moderna, SK Bioscience’s Skycobione, which was released late, won the title of ‘Domestic Vaccine No. I don’t even hear the news.

Ki-seok Ki-seok, chairman of the National Infectious Disease Crisis Response Advisory Committee, recently emphasized the need for government-level support, lamenting the fact that there is no cure for COVID-19 despite pouring 20 trillion won into R&D in the pharmaceutical sector.

The problem is that it is not easy to produce results even in the midst of development right now, but with the COVID-19 pandemic, the companies that declared related development quit without a word, and even the enthusiasm has faded. The industry once complained of its own difficulties, saying that it is giving up on development due to various obstacles because it costs a lot of money and it is not easy to recruit patients for clinical trials.

As SK Bioscience has already taken the lead in vaccines, attention on latecomers is low. Although it has already been expected to some extent, the utilization of the first domestic vaccine is also less than expected. According to the quarantine authorities, 19 people applied for vaccination on the first day of pre-booking for Skycobi One. Compared to the previous day, the number of new vaccine reservations was 18,835, and the number of advance reservations for Skycobi One is low, which leaves a feeling of regret due to the belated development.

In the case of treatment, Celltrion’s antibody treatment ‘Rekkorina’ was discontinued earlier this year as it was judged to be ineffective for omicron mutation. In June, the company withdrew from the development of a treatment for COVID-19 as it also halted the global phase 3 clinical trial of an inhaled cocktail treatment. It is because of the lack of business viability compared to the investment.

This is why experts continue to criticize the fact that vaccines are barely following global pharmaceutical companies, and there is still no news regarding treatments.

If the government’s full support for companies with potential is supported, it is expected that it will be possible to secure pharmaceutical sovereignty that is not swayed by global pharmaceutical companies, even if it is a little late. It is time for the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to take the lead in investing in research and development of infectious diseases.

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Hyo-Jeong Lee

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