News & Events
News & Events
Dr. Youngmee Jee, the CEO of the Institut Pasteur Korea, meets the French Ambassador to Korea for informal discussion
2021-02-10
Dr. Youngmee Jee, the CEO of the Institut Pasteur Korea, meets the French Ambassador to Korea for informal discussion
On Feb. 2, newly appointed Institut Pasteur Korea CEO (Dr. Youngmee Jee) met with the French Ambassador in Seoul (His Excellency Monsieur Philippe Lefort) at the French Residence in Seoul.
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(From left, H.E. Mr. Philippe Lefort, Dr. Youngmee Jee and Dr. Spencer Shorte)
At the top of the agenda IPK’s work toward innovative COVID-19 therapies, Dr. Jee spoke on the progress of clinical trials toward establishing efficacy for several candidate anti-viral therapeutic molecules previously identified by IPK. It is anticipated that clinical trial results from IPK initiated international clinical trials, supported by the Korean Ministry of Science and ICT, will eventually lead to fast track new drug treatments for COVID-19. IPK has spearheaded a strategy of repurposing existing drugs in partnership with domestic pharmaceutical companies as a means to advance COVID-19 drug discovery.
During the hour-long, face-to-face discussion, Dr. Jee and Mr. Lefort made clear their common agreement on the value of IPK as a vehicle for continued, sustained Franco-Korean collaboration on biomedicine and public-health to fight infectious disease. Adding that while Franco-Korean collaboration is manifest in a variety of fields of business, science and engineering, there are exceptional opportunities anticipated in the fields of biomedicine and biotechnology.
To end this first touchstone introductory meeting, Monsieur Lefort and Dr. Jee toured the beautiful and historic French Ambassador’s residence and gardens, accompanied by the French Scientific Attaché (Mr. Denis Fourmeau) and IPK CSO (Dr. Spencer Shorte). The latter indicated how the immediate future plans of newly appointed Dr. Jee include leveraging IPK’s drug discovery resources to the direct benefit of Korean domestic, Asia-Region and ultimately Global Health in the fight against infectious diseases.