[Reporter's view]Promotion of pharmaceutical & bio-industry

disappeared welfare committee national audit

In the audit conducted by the National Assembly Health and Welfare Committee for the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety this year, it was difficult to find policy questions to foster the domestic pharmaceutical and bio-industry.

 

There are still audits from the National Health Insurance Corporation, the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service, the Health Industry Promotion Agency, and a general audit, but it seems that there is not enough time to deal with issues related to the pharmaceutical industry with weight.

 

The Yoon Seok-yeol government has shown a blueprint for creating two global blockbuster-class new drugs and nurturing more than three global-level pharmaceutical bio companies by 2027 while showing its willingness to record 16 billion in drug exports, but the National Assembly's willingness to verify this was weak.

 

On the second day of the Ministry of Health and Welfare's national audit and the day of the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety's national audit, the problem of vulnerability to the self-sufficiency rate of domestic raw materials and drugs was pointed out, but even this was only proposed as a solution to solve the problem of supply and demand unstable medicines that suffer from long-term out of stock.

 

There were no questions related to the Prime Minister's BioHealth Innovation Committee, which will serve as a control tower to foster the pharmaceutical bio-industry, pointed out the direction of operating the pharmaceutical bio-industry megafund, and no concerns about the reduction of the budget to support the development of the pharmaceutical industry next year.

 

It was difficult to look at the expression of the National Assembly, which is considering the reform of the innovation value compensation drug price system, which is a hot topic for domestic pharmaceutical companies and global pharmaceutical companies, preferential treatment for domestic raw materials, and ways to foster new domestic drugs.

 

It was a pity that it was hard to find a reference to the agenda related to the pharmaceutical and bio-industry in the National Assembly's audit day of the Ministry of Appreciation Day between the Ministry of Welfare and the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, which are in charge of nurturing the pharmaceutical and bio-industry.

 

I feel that I have lost the opportunity to look into whether the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety are currently putting into practice their policy vision regarding the development of the domestic pharmaceutical and bio-industry.

 

This national audit is the last audit of the 21st term of the National Assembly.

 

The 21st National Assembly experienced the COVID-19 pandemic and felt the need and importance of securing domestic pharmaceutical, bio, and vaccine sovereignty more deeply than anyone else.

 

During the three years following the pandemic, we continued our national activities, seeing that the pharmaceutical and bio-industry is an industry directly related to national security and a field that needs to be intensively nurtured for the future of the country.

 

The National Assembly's interest in creating an R&D, drug price, and regulatory environment where domestic pharmaceutical bio companies can demonstrate sufficient capabilities in the global market is directly related to fostering domestic industry through policy improvement by government ministries.

 

It's time to encourage the government's measures to foster the domestic pharmaceutical and bio-industry, which have unlimited growth potential during the rest of the national audit period, and to show a level of active interest and expertise that can monitor whether the administration is being carried out according to the promised blueprint.