Seoul, Feb 9 (IANS) South Korea could significantly strengthen the competitiveness of its bio-health industry by leveraging its abundant, high-quality bio data through artificial intelligence (AI), a central bank report showed on Monday.
According to the report by the Bank of Korea (BOK) on measures to foster the advanced bio-health sector, South Korea lags behind leading countries in such areas as innovative new drugs and advanced medical devices, while the global market is expected to grow at an average annual rate of 5 percent over the next five years amid population aging and other factors.
From 2016 to 2023, the country ranked ninth worldwide in the number of bio-health patent applications filed in the United States, while it ranked fourth overall across all sectors, reports Yonhap news agency.
“AI can reduce new drug development timelines by up to 50 percent, significantly lower research and development costs, and create new markets,” the report said. “Under these circumstances, South Korea has an opportunity to overcome the limitations of its current industrial ecosystem and overtake leading nations.”
In particular, the country possesses health insurance and clinical data collected from 50 million people under a single national health insurance system, which is “exceptionally rare worldwide and a national strategic resource in the AI era,” the BOK noted.
To capitalise on such advantages, the central bank proposed a national bio data approval system, under which an authority would conduct prior reviews and approve data use only for research that meets public interest criteria, and the government would ease regulations for approved projects.
Meanwhile, South Korea’s biotechnology industry output grew nearly 10 percent in 2024 from a year earlier despite persistent global trade uncertainties, industry data showed.
The country’s biotechnology industry production came to 22.92 trillion won (US$15.7 billion) in 2024, up from 20.87 trillion won in 2023, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) said, citing a survey by the Korea Biotechnology Industry Organization (KoreaBIO).
The figure marked a recovery following a 12 percent on-year decline in 2023, signalling renewed growth momentum in the sector.
—IANS
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