SK바이오 방문한 문대통령 "코로나 백신, 끝까지 자체 개발해야"

President Moon Jae-in paid a visit Thursday to the vaccine unit of SK Group, SK Bioscience... to encourage the researchers working on a COVID-19 vaccine.
He stressed the importance of Korea developing its own treatments and vaccines even if the country import them from overseas,... and promised more state support.
"We need to build up experience through the development process and also lower prices. The government has injected around 183 million U.S. dollars to support the costs of clinical trials and development, and we have drawn up a budget for next year of around 244 million U.S. dollars, which is a 19% increase from this year."
SK Bioscience has been manufacturing the antigen component of an experimental coronavirus vaccine, and is entering phase one of clinical trials this month.
It's engaged in talks to produce vaccines for globally renowned biotechnology companies like Novavax.
According to the Korea National Enterprise for Clinical Trials, the number of COVID-19 vaccines in clinical trials around the world has jumped by 98 in the past month.