GOVT PLANS TO DEVELOP VACCINE FOR COVID-19

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The government has announced its plan to develop drugs and vaccines for COVID-19. If everything goes according to plan, a treatment drug will be rolled out within this year and a vaccine will be produced in the latter half of next year. Meanwhile, the first clinic trial of a vaccine has started in Korea.

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​Inovio Pharmaceuticals. An American-based biotechnology company headed by a Korean scientist. The Korean Ministry of Food and Drug Safety approved the company's vaccine clinical trial. This is the first clinical test of a COVID-19 vaccine in Korea. The Seoul National University Hospital injected the vaccine candidate substance to 160 subjects to find out if antibodies will be formed. The government has designated the vaccines from Inovio and two other pharmaceutical companies as strategic items. The goal is mass production by the latter half of 2021.

[Soundbite] PARK NEUNG-HOO(MINISTER OF HEALTH AND WELFARE) : "The government will be responsible for developing COVID-19 treatment drugs and vaccines so that the COVID-19 crisis would serve as an opportunity to propel the Korean bio-health industry to the next level."

The government aims to roll out COVID-19 treatment drugs within this year. It has designated the drugs using the plasma and antibodies drawn from the blood of COVID-19 survivors and the repositioned drug as the three key strategic drugs.

[Soundbite] CHOI KI-YOUNG(MINISTER OF SCIENCE & ICT) : "R&D assistance will be focused on promising treatment and vaccine candidates so that tangible results can be produced within this year."

Countries around the world are stepping up efforts to develop COVID-19 treatment. The U.S, China, and the U.K. aim to produce vaccines by early 2021. If other countries successfully develop drugs or vaccines, it will take some time before Koreans gain access to them. This is why it's important for Korea to secure its own treatment or vaccine. Seoul will allocate more than 100 billion won out of this year's third supplementary budget to treatment and vaccine clinical studies.